Other Houses/Inner Rooms at AEC
The Covington Artisans Enterprise Center has been developing into a truly admirable gathering space for artists in the Northern Kentucky region. This year has seen a series of guest-curated exhibitions that have featured precociously talented student artists as well as locally established professionals, performance artists and art educators. The AEC has a surprising amount of…
Events: The Great Nationwide Kiss-In
If you love kissing people too, stop by Fountain Square 2-3 p.m. Saturday for the Nationwide Kiss-In. What is the Nationwide Kiss-In? According to its Web site, the Kiss-In is a response “to a recent wave of incidents where police or law enforcement officers harassed or arrested LGBT people for kissing.” If you want to…
Dance: Gala of International Dance Stars
Kellye A. Saunders and Matthew Prescott, and they’ll be performing for the second season as a duo in ballet tech cincinnati’s eighth Gala of International Dance Stars this weekend to choreography by Prescott and Thaddeus Davis. Between them, they have worked with some of the most significant modern choreographers on the dance scene today and…
Music: Jockey Club Re-Reunion/CD Release Party
The folks at local independent publisher Aurore Press have done more than almost anyone to keep alive the legend of The Jockey Club, the ’80s Punk Rock venue in Newport, Ky., that put the allegedly behind-the-times Cincinnati on the Punk map and helped foster a strong local Punk scene that lives on to this day.…
G.I. Joe (Review)
Stephen Sommers’ noisy, effects-laden mess pillages a host of action-adventure staples — everything from Star Wars and Star Trek to Commando and any number of recent comic-book adaptations — with the subtlety of a sledgehammer to the senses. For those who care, G.I. Joe all but ignores its source material — which, to be fair,…
Music: The Donnas with Blondie and Pat Benatar
We could just as easily be talking about The Electrocutes and their importance to modern American music, but a few twists of fate and it’s The Donnas who get the nod. Best friends Brett Anderson, Allison Robertson, Maya Ford and Torry Castellano formed Ragady Anne for an eighth-grade school event in Palo Alto, Calif., then…
Events: Union Centre Boulevard Bash
Enjoy three days chock full of live music, rides, games and tasty food from restaurants like Maggiano's, Qdoba and Jag's Steak and Seafood. Musical acts include Friday headliners The Gin Blossoms (pictured), who topped the charts with their alt-rock hit "Hey Jealousy." Also on the bill Friday are Big Whiskey and Sullivan Janszen Band. Saturday…
Events: Moerlein Oktoberfest Keg Tapping
Drinking season is upon us (although for some of us it never leaves), and what better way to kick off the Moerlein Oktoberfest than with a ceremonial tapping of the keg. The honorary tapping will be done Friday by Manfred Schnetzer, longtime member of the Kolping Society. The event will feature live music by Die…
A Perfect Getaway (Review)
Honeymoon thrills detour down a sinister path for an eager couple (Steve Zahn and Milla Jovovich) in Hawaii as they encounter two other pairs (Chris Hemsworth and Marley Shelton and Timothy Olyphant and Kiele Sanchez), one of which might have murderously cruel intentions. Writer-director David Twohy returns to the action-horror thrills of his Riddick days,…
Events: Nik Wallenda High Wire Walk
Long ago, before cable television and pay-per-view boxing, people would do crazy things in front of a live audience to entertain them. Things like shooting themselves out of canons or lifting really heavy things. The Wallenda family made its name doing such crazy things. Saturday at Kings Island, Nik Wallenda will uphold the family tradition…
Sports: Western & Southern Financial Group Masters
The 2009 edition of “arguably, the oldest tournament in the United States still played in its original city” can boast of far more than that, as 56 of the top women and men have gathered together for one of the final tune-up events before the final Grand Slam of the tennis season, The US Open.…
Events: Do Downtown Restaurant Week
Do Downtown Restaurant Week is Cincinnati's once-a-year dining deal at 22 great downtown spots. Each restaurant is offering an individual three-course dinner or two dinners for $35; offers vary from place to place. Participating restaurants are Akash India, Arnold's Bar & Grill, BlackFinn, Boi Na Braza, Bootsy's, Daveed's at 934 (in Mount Adams), JeanRo Bistro,…
Events: ON THE RIVER/DANCE_MF
DANCE_MF, Cincinnati’s prestigiously sweaty monthly dance party, celebrates its first anniversary Saturday with a giant booze cruise aboard the River Queen riverboat. Replete with the usual dancing, DJs, video projections and, of course, Razzle Bear, DMF’s furry arctic mascot, this birthday party will have everything you’ve come to expect from DMF and more, including free…
Music: Damien Jurado
Damien Jurado burst out of the Seattle scene and into the Indie spotlight a dozen years ago. The transplanted Texan began by self-releasing his own basement Folk cassettes — a little like Nick Drake shaped by faith and contemporary forces — which earned him a loyal local audience. Since then, Jurado has pushed his stylistic…
Music: Blink-182
The sophomoric simplicity of Blink-182 is back and (hopefully) unchanged. Things collapsed for the band when, after internal drama, they dissolved in 2005. All members immediately snapped up other projects but they were comparatively sub par: DeLonge’s Angels & Airwaves ditched swift riffs and dick jokes for widescreen AltRock while Barker and Hoppus teamed back…
Events: Great Inland Seafood Festival
If you're a seafood fanatic or one of those "vegetarians" who thinks fish doesn’t count as meat, you've got to check out this festival. Kicking off Thursday on the riverbanks in Newport, this seafood smorgasbord offers tasty bites from 15 local restaurants. Get your fill of crawfish, oysters, salmon and shrimp, and be sure to…
Music: Naked Brothers Band
Being in a TV show about being in a Rock band presents some problems, especially if you really are a musician. Such is the predicament of The Naked Brothers Band, whose Nickelodeon series is a favorite of the tween set and that demographic’s parental units. The program is shot documentary style (a la The Office),…
Events: Midwest Regional Black Family Reunion
Inaugurated in Cincinnati in August, 1989, the 21st annual Midwest Regional Black Family Reunion Celebration (BFRC) will be held this weekend at Sawyer Point. First envisioned in 1986 by Dr. Dorothy I. Height, President Emerita of the National Council of Negro Women, the BFRC is a three-day event that brings people together to concentrate on…
Events: Off with Their Heads Fashion Show
Nathan Hurst’s first artistic fashion show, Off with Their Heads, is this Friday at CS13, a new gallery and music venue in Over-the-Rhine. It will feature a runway show winding down the building’s fire escape, to be followed by a party DJed by Northside Nick. Along with references to diva stage costumes, Hurst’s work sometimes…
Comedy: Tig Notaro
Some comedians pursue acting roles, others have acting thrust upon them. Such is the case with Tig Notaro, who just completed work on a film about the life of rocker Joan Jett. Tig was cast as Jett’s mum after her managers submitted her for the part. “It was really fun,” she says. “It was bizarre.…
Onstage: Little Shop of Horrors
Sometimes good things come from stupid things. A really weird low-budget sci-fi horror movie by Roger Corman back in 1960 laid the foundation for a really entertaining musical some years later: Little Shop of Horrors was turned into a Broadway hit in 1982. The goofy story of Seymour, an incompetent flower shop assistant who raises…
PETA Takes to the Streets
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) took to downtown streets today to distribute "cruelty-free shopping guides." The pocket-sized pamphlets list more than 950 companies that have completed a statement of assurance saying they don't do product testing on animals. —- The small group of activists was quiet and seemed to get about every…
Calling All Beardos!
The "Beardo Peep Show" this Friday at Molly Malone's in Covington serves as the latest sneak preview show for the upcoming Whispering Beard Folk Festival, a massive event featuring oodles of local/regional Folk/Americana/Bluegrass (and beyond) acts, as well as headliners Peter Rowan and The Hackensaw Boys. Friday's 9 p.m. preview has Beardos Rattlesnakin' Daddies, Wonky…
The Hiders Make Movie Soundtrack
Cincinnati Indie Roots band The Hiders have scored placement on the soundtrack to the independent film Adam. The movie has already been receiving positive reviews in the big-city markets in which it's already opened (it's slated to open locally at The Esquire at the end of August). —- The song chosen for the soundtrack, "Plastic…
Jockey Club Re-Reunion
The folks at local independent publisher Aurore Press have done more than almost anyone to keep alive the legend of The Jockey Club, the ’80s Punk Rock venue in Newport that put the allegedly behind-the-times Cincinnati on the Punk map and helped foster a strong local Punk scene that lives on to this day. First,…
The Donnas with Blondie and Pat Benatar
We could just as easily be talking about The Electrocutes and their importance to modern American music, but a few twists of fate and it’s The Donnas who get the nod Best friends Brett Anderson, Allison Robertson, Maya Ford and Torry Castellano formed Ragady Anne for an eighth-grade school event in Palo Alto, Calif., then…
Gin Blossoms
I’m not actually sure where Union Centre is, but I’m willing to find it this weekend for the annual Union Centre Boulevard Bash. And it’s not just because I like exploring Cincinnati’s pockets of suburban sprawl. On Friday night, the Gin Blossoms headline the three-day food-and-music extravaganza. I was only in second grade when New…
Damien Jurado with mewithoutyou and Psalters
Good singer/songwriters make fans. Great singer/songwriters make friends. That’s how Damien Jurado burst out of the Seattle scene and into the Indie spotlight a dozen years ago. The transplanted Texan began by self-releasing his own basement Folk cassettes — a little like Nick Drake shaped by faith and contemporary forces — which earned him a…
Fashion Inspiration: A Conversation With Andrea Sisson
There are many designers and artists in the world who create amazing works of art, but they are rarely ever functional. Andrea Sisson is the answer to that problem. Entering her fifth year at the University of Cincinnati's DAAP program, Andrea is studying Fashion Design that fuses both creativity and functionality for the individual. Her…
Did Cranley, Luken Plant Seeds for Layoffs?
Despite all the fiery rhetoric and political grandstanding at a special City Council meeting Thursday evening at the Duke Energy Center, residents might not notice much of a difference if the city manager decides to lay off 138 people in the Cincinnati Police Department. Even with proposed layoffs, the Police Department’s staffing level still would…
What Does ‘Living Like It’s Shark Week’ Mean?
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that it’s Shark Week, an annual weeklong series of programs on Discovery Channel dedicated to the underwater beast. The hugely popular programming seems to generate more and more buzz every year — especially by online word-of-mouth. You know it’s that time again when Facebook and Twitter…
Friday Movie Roundup: Goodbye, John Hughes
John Hughes, the writer and/or director of such 1980s staples as Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink and The Breakfast Club, died of a heart attack yesterday at age 59. That sucks for a variety of reasons, the least of which is that few filmmakers made popular entertainments with as much heart, authenticity and wit as…
Ludlow Garage Tribute at Blues Fest Tonight
Those not in the know often knock Cincinnati for a dilapidated arts scene, as if a conservative political climate results in a conservative cultural one. Those who have read CityBeat over the years hopefully know that this is a myth. Cincinnati's arts and music scene is often right on time, if not a few steps…
Pull Something Cool
I just found out that tractor pulls aren’t nearly as cool as I thought they were. I, being a city boy, had no idea what they were all about. Turns out, a tractor pull involves a tractor — get this — pulling shit. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, like I said, I’m just…
The Collector (Review)
Every new horror movie strives to find a creepier, scarier level of thrills or aims to out torture-porn the last torture-porn shocker. But I think it’s time to acknowledge that we really have seen it all — all the hacked off appendages, the soupy intestines, the needles in live flesh. Maybe it is time for…
Ludlow Garage Celebrates 40 Years
Clifton's famous Ludlow Garage is celebrating its 40th anniversary at the Cincy Blues Fest Friday and releasing a CD of live recordings made the venue. Read Rick Bird's profile of the Ludlow Garage here.
Aliens in the Attic (Review)
When is Hollywood going to stop targeting movies directly to kids? The end products, like most materials we refer to as “end products,” stink to the high heavens and don’t end up appealing to either kids or adults, although it seems that the studio bigwigs are betting that the zany appeal of Ashley Tisdale (The…
Remembering the Unimaginable
Thursday will mark the 64th anniversary since the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, obliterating most of the Japanese city and directly killing more than 80,000 people. Within a few months, another 50,000 would die from injuries or radiation poisoning.—- Three days after the initial strike, a second atomic bomb would be dropped…
Art: Conversations with Collectors at the CAM
Cincinnati has a reason to be proud of the treasures to be found in local art collections. One is currently on display at the Cincinnati Art Museum, belonging to Nancy and David Wolf. It is Outside the Ordinary: Contemporary Art in Glass, Wood and Ceramics from the Wolf Collection and it features fine examples from…
About a Boy
Rakesh Satyal’s Blue Boy tells the story of Kiran, a second-generation Indian-American boy who lives in a quaint Cincinnati suburb. Smart and creative, the 12-year-old does everything he can to meet his parents’ expectations and fit into his surroundings. Yet Kiran’s not like other boys: He prefers Strawberry Shortcake dolls, ballet and his mother’s Estée…
Natural Innocence
Photographer Lisa Britton has been recording every day of her almost-5-year-old daughter Angela’s short life. She often concentrates on Angela’s exploration of the natural world and has chosen works with that theme for Seeing Nature, her exhibition of color photographs on display at Parkside Café in Walnut Hills. “Even before Angela was born I was…
July 29-Aug. 5: Worst Week Ever!
WEDNESDAY JULY 29If Mayor Mark Mallory isn’t an expert on streetcars after visiting Portland, Ore., last week, then Michael Jackson isn’t dead and Jeff Berding is respected by his peers. The Enquirer reported today that Mallory, fresh off a field trip to America’s leading producer of progressive mass transit and Indie rocker boners, said that…
Events: World’s Longest Yard Sale
Mainstrasse Village will again play host to Corridor 127’s yard sale (the world’s longest), which stretches 654 miles from West Unity, Ohio to Gadsden, Ala. From Thursday-Sunday the Sixth Street Promenade will be lined with vendors trying to turn their trash into cash, and possibly your treasure. You won’t know what people are selling unless…
Events: Second Sunday on Main
"Love Your Neighbor" with this installment of Second Sunday on Main. This eclectic neighborhood event, presented by the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce, kicks off with a lineup of Blues, Roots Rock and Funk, featuring Voodoo Puppet, Groove Crew, Messerly & Ewing, Daughters & Sons and Pete Dressman & the Soul Unified Natio. Special events include…
Events: Hamilton County Fair
We’ve been telling you about county fairs all over the far reaches of the Cincinnati area (aka Butler County), so it’s only fair (ha) we tell you about the 154th annual Hamilton County Fair, our local venue for tractor pull/4-H/terrifying-ride entertainment. Nestled conveniently between the Norwood Lateral and Ronald Reagan Highway at 7801 Anthony Wayne…
Literary: Franki Butler-Kidd
Franki Butler-Kidd is a columnist for The Cincinnati Herald and a fledgling screenwriter who is best known locally for being the mother of “the tuition bandit.” Her son, Andrew Butler, then 20, was convicted in December 2007, on two charges of aggravated robbery and six charges of kidnapping, stemming from the robbery of a Reading…
The Bloodless Battlefield
My life’s motto is “Mercy in all things but chess.” I admit to being a coward, a fool and a procrastinator during moments in my adult life, but I shall be none of the above if you are der brav soldat willing to face me on the chessboard. Chess is a game of honor. Two…
Music: Maylene and the Sons of Disaster
“I’ve never had a reason not to be humble,” says Dallas Taylor, lead singer of Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, shortly after pulling the band’s tour van into a motel parking lot somewhere in Illinois. He, along with the other five members of the Birmingham-based Metalcore outfit, is still in the first half of…
Events: Glier’s Goettafest
A vegetarian’s worst nightmare and a carnivore’s fantasy — an entire festival dedicated to celebrating meat. Glier’s Goettafest 2009 is the uber gala for goetta, the “Cincinnati Caviar,” as well as the Queen City’s German heritage. The concoction, made from pork, beef, spices and steel-cut oats, will be served up by popular local vendors in…
The Rock Stars Next Door
“I’ve never had a reason not to be humble,” says Dallas Taylor, lead singer of Maylene and the Sons of Disaster, shortly after pulling the band’s tour van into a motel parking lot somewhere in Illinois. He, along with the other five members of the Birmingham-based Metalcore outfit, is still in the first half of…
CEA-Accredited Shows on Tap
Voting closed on Aug. 3 for the 13th annual Cincinnati Entertainment Awards (CEAs) recognizing outstanding performances and productions from the 2008-09 theater season. The awards will be presented at Below Zero Lounge in Over-the-Rhine on Aug. 30. The event is open to the public and free, a big party (cash bar) attended by local theater…
Music: Civil Twilight
Defined scientifically, civil twilight is the time of day or evening when the center of the sun is six degrees below the horizon and terrestrial objects are still visible without the sun’s direct illumination. As defined by two South African brothers and their friend, Civil Twilight is a brilliant, thoughtful and energetic amalgam of Radiohead,…
The Pope and Hammer Pants
[HOT] The Pope Is DopeWhat do Eminem, Lady Gaga, Guns N’ Roses, Weezer and Pope Benedict XVI have in common? If you answered questionable ties to the Nazi party … well, what the hell is wrong with you? Da Pope is actually soon to become labelmates with the aforementioned as he joins the roster of…
Catch Catfish at The Comet
Billy Catfish is a man about town of the highest order and a renaissance man to boot. The good-humored, sometimes-mustachioed/bearded bard has been a performing and recording musician since ’89, playing with numerous Experimental, Punk and Garage bands. In keeping with our town’s musical zeitgeist, he’s currently doing the “laid-back Country-Folk Singer-Songwriter thing,” according to…
To Dorm or Not to Dorm
[Check out the full 2009 Focus on Education section here.] College is a time of decisions: Where are you going to go to school? What are you going to major in? What organizations are you going to join? While considering these long-term scenarios, another eminent decision to make is whether or not to live on…
Events: Cincy Blues Fest
The Cincy Blues Fest is now entering its 17th year and its longevity can be accredited to a number of factors. The event — returning to Sawyer Point — remains one of the longest-running Blues festivals in the world by booking established headliners, but also by adapting to the times and catering to the community.…
Reviving a Vile Legacy
States’ rights. For most CityBeat readers who are too young to remember it, the phrase sounds vague and innocuous but it’s a code word frequently used in one of the darkest chapters in U.S. history. Throughout the 1950s and ’60s, Southern states invoked the phrase to resist federal efforts aimed at ending deep-seated racist policies,…
Literary: Rakesh Satyal
Rakesh Satyal’s Blue Boy tells story of Kiran, a second-generation Indian-American boy who lives in a quaint Cincinnati suburb. Smart and creative, the 12-year-old does everything he can to meet his parents’ expectations and fit into his surroundings. Yet Kiran’s not like other boys: He prefers Strawberry Shortcake dolls, ballet and his mother’s Estee Lauder…
Considering Community College
[Check out the full 2009 Focus on Education section here.] When Jennifer Reinhart graduated high school in 2006, she thought she had her future all figured out. She would volunteer for one year in the AmeriCorps and then begin her four-year college education at the University of Cincinnati. She had everything in the bag: her…
Cactus Pear (Review)
Every now and then, instead of reviewing the latest thing, we revisit a timeless classic. This month, Cactus Pear in Clifton won the spot. Why the Pear? Because it offers consistently good Tex-Mex cuisine and service, great outdoor dining and some of the strongest Margaritas and Mojitos known to humankind. But when we say Tex-Mex,…
Liberty Township Poop Shoe
Dear Maija,I’m writing to you regarding my neighbor and his goddamn dog. I work really hard to keep my lawn looking nice so my friends who are renters get jealous (I also have a 50-inch plasma TV and room on my Best Buy credit account for Blue-ray if I need it). This dog — some…
Pictures of Then, Hooters, Walter Trout and More
In terms of my daughter’s summer break, the season is nearly at an end. Back-to-school time has become something of a bittersweet ritual in the eight years I’ve spent at home with her since being relieved of my graphic design career in 2001. As a work-at-home dad, I have the flexibility to arrange my schedule…
Majoring in the Future
[Check out the full 2009 Focus on Education section here.] Don’t pick it because your grandparents bribed you. Don’t pick it because it’s the easy way out. Don’t pick it because it sounds fun or because your dad, your aunt and your cousin thrice-removed picked it. There’s probably no “right” reason to choose a particular…
Events: Taste of Colerain
It’s time again for the Taste of Colerain, an annual celebration of the local flavor of Colerain Township. Enjoy food from local eateries such as Walt’s Barbecue, Amy’s Funnel Cakes and Little Jimmy’s Italian Ice while celebrating the 20th anniversary of the festival, which boasts larger rides for teens and adults this year, as well…
The Environment and Jean Schimidt
[WINNER] THE ENVIRONMENT: The Hamilton County Parks District recently bought 184 acres of land in Colerain Township from the Rumpke waste removal and landfill companies. Located next to the Oak Glen Nature Preserve, the site will be preserved as greenspace and was purchased for $1.1 million, with most of the money coming from a Clean…
Smoke ‘Em While You Got ‘Em
Since Ohio’s statewide smoking ban went into effect in December 2006, making it illegal to smoke tobacco products in bars, restaurants and most other enclosed workspaces, smokers have been forced to keep their habit in check — or at least make it more discreet. More than two years later, some smokers still argue that the…
Rock History at Ludlow Garage
It was the summer of Woodstock. A few weeks after the epic concert in 1969, its counter-culture musical vibe came to Cincinnati with the opening of Ludlow Garage at 346 Ludlow Ave. in Clifton. The club even had pieces of the original Woodstock sound system. Cincinnati had never seen any thing like it and hasn’t…
Change at the Art Academy
The Art Academy of Cincinnati last week announced the departures of two top leaders, President Gregory Allgire Smith and Academic Dean Keith Kutch. While Kutch left on his own accord to accept a position at Stevenson University outside of Baltimore, the circumstances surrounding Smith’s departure are still unclear. Ronald Bates, chairman of the Academy’s board…
Music: Ludlow Garage 40th Anniversary Tribute
It was the summer of Woodstock. A few weeks after the epic concert in 1969, its counter-culture musical vibe came to Cincinnati with the opening of Ludlow Garage at 346 Ludlow Ave. in Clifton. The club even had pieces of the original Woodstock sound system. Cincinnati had never seen any thing like it and hasn’t…
Julie & Julia (Review)
It only took 30 years, but Meryl Streep has done it: She’s the queen of summer movies. I know. The audacity, right? This is the time of year, after all, when youth is supposed to be served even more than it is the other nine months. Yet here we have a Woman of a Certain…
Summer Dining Deals, and Chickens in Your Backyard
Quick: During what month can you learn how to raise urban chickens in your own backyard and get $2 million in free food and wine from Jeff Ruby? Yep, it could only be August in Cincinnati. If you’ve always longed to raise chickens but never knew where to start, there’s no longer anything stopping you…
D.I.Y. Samurai: Fair with a Chance of Handmade Goodness
The Ohio State Fair kicked off in Columbus last week when I realized that I could not actually remember ever attending it. I’ve been to a million church festivals over the years, and even a few county fairs, but it’s been at least 15 years since I have been to the statewide extravaganza. Banking that…
