City Manager Proposes Parking, Economic Development Plan
In a presentation to City Council Feb. 19, City Manager Milton Dohoney Jr. unveiled an unexpected parking proposal that will solve a $25.8 million budget deficit for the 2014 fiscal year and avoid full privatization. The 30-year plan will also put more than $100 million toward economic development in the city. The plan involves teaming…
Curmudgeon Notes 2.20.2013
• Giovanna Chirri, the veteran Vaticanista who understood the pope’s Latin, broke the news that he’d just announced his resignation. She works for the Italian news agency, ANSA. Her skill recalled Ernest Sackler at Rome’s UPI bureau when I was a photojournalist stringer during John XXIII’s papacy. Ernest truly understood Vatican Latin well enough to…
Cincinnati Entertainment Awards Broadcast Gets Air Dates
The 2013 Cincinnati Entertainment Awards ceremony/party late last month at Covington’s Madison Theater was filmed on high-quality video and this Saturday, for the first time in the 16-year history of the CEAs, fans who want to relive the performances and presentations (or those who missed it altogether) will have a chance to watch the show…
Event: People Working Cooperatively’s Oscar Experience 2013
The Academy Awards is one of the most prestigious ceremonies in the entertainment world. This Hollywood-studded event is where the most distinguished actors and actresses of the time gather to celebrate each other’s hard work and accomplishments … at the most elegant location, wearing the most expensive clothing and jewelry and eating a gourmet dinner made…
Art: Glory Be! Exhibition Opening
The compulsion to create is something with which many artists struggle. Whether a possessed urge for prolificacy on one hand or writer’s block on the other, the genuine need to make art can often surpass such pragmatic concerns as time, funding or even pride. Former member of the now-defunct Publico Gallery and local artist Britni…
Art: 20th Century Cincinnati Modernism Show
The 20th Century Cincinnati Modernism Show has become one of the region’s top design/collectibles events. This year, 60 dealers will offer furniture, artwork, glass, pottery, posters, textiles, dinnerware and other objects representative of such 20th century progressive design movements as Arts & Crafts, Art Deco, Streamline, Futuristic, Mid-Century and Op/Pop. There will also be an…
Comedy: Kyle Grooms
“I was a funny kid that enjoyed comedy,” explains Kyle Grooms, “but I never thought of comedy as a job. We had Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy, but it was like they came from outer space.” It was after watching Def Comedy Jam that Grooms realized regular folks could do stand-up. So he left his…
Music: Meshuggah
In the Extreme Metal community, few bands loom as large as Meshuggah. The Swedish quintet celebrated their silver anniversary with 2012’s Koloss, the most commercially successful album in their 26-year history, which scored a Top 20 Billboard slot in its first week. Although Meshuggah has never attained mainstream status like Metallica or Megadeth, their influence…
Event: Cincinnati Auto Expo
Car enthusiasts rejoice! At the Cincinnati Auto Expo, auto vendors from Audi to Honda to Land Rover will be crowding into the Duke Energy Convention Center for one of the biggest amalgams of car dealers ever to coalesce in downtown Cincinnati. Dealer representatives and product specialists from will be more than happy to show off…
Event: Dishcrawl’s Cincinnati Debut
Foodies everywhere rejoice: Dishcrawl gastro-tours have come to the Queen City! The organization’s Cincinnati launch will be exploring and sampling the tastes of the city’s burgeoning central business district. It should be a great way for locals to eat at many of the new eateries located downtown and in Over-the-Rhine. Anybody with a ticket won’t…
Event: Newport on the Levee Wine Walk
There are many situations that call for wine, including but not limited to: girls’ nights, home breakup remedies, fancy vineyard excursions, a bad day at work, a good day at work and, evidently, to promote heart health. It turns out that moderate red wine consumption is actually good for your heart, so Newport honors the…
Onstage: Million Dollar Quartet
If I said you could catch a jam session featuring four Rock & Roll icons together, I’d probably get your attention, right? That’s what the unusual Broadway musical, Million Dollar Quartet, is all about — an afternoon in early December 1956 when the not-quite-famous Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley ended…
Morning News and Stuff
Gov. John Kasich will give his State of the State address today in Lima, where he is expected to cover his budget plan, jobs and tax reform. It will air live at The Ohio Channel at 6:30 p.m. During his last State of the State speech, the governor lacked focus, imitated a Parkinson’s patient and…
Bunbury Music Festival Announces Year 2 Lineup
Bunbury Music Festival founder Bill Donabedian announced much of the festival's sophomore year's lineup this morning on Fox19. The fest returns to Sawyer Point Park July 12-14. Tickets are on sale now. The lineup is loaded with great local talent, including a couple of returning hometown heroes — Walk the Moon (on RCA Records and…
Animals as Leaders
The words “virtuosic” and “unique” are seriously overused when music journalists talk about Metal. I’m an offender of this, mostly because I feel that Metal is filled with uniquely virtuosic musicians who have technically honed their craft. And partially because I’m not that creative. But then there are times like when I listen to a…
Intronaut
For a Metal band more taken with exploring the heavenward than wreaking destruction on Earth, Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words with Tones) makes an especially sound title for an Intronaut album. The Los Angeles four-piece takes cues from an assortment of Metal subgenres — namely, Progressive, Psychedelic, Post and Experimental — and comes up with dramatic,…
Florida Georgia Line
If you’ve ever spent any time in towns like Valdosta or Thomasville, Ga., and Tallahassee or Perry, Fla., then you know how fitting it is for a Country band to be called Florida Georgia Line. Even Tallahassee has its redneck moments, despite being Florida’s capitol city and home to FSU (Go Noles!). And Perry ……
Testament with Overkill
When most people think of Thrash, they think of “The Big Four” bands that saved the Heavy Metal genre in the ’80s from being wholly consumed by aerosol hairspray cans, pink spandex and Joe Elliott’s mullet. Fast forward to 2013 — although Slayer and Anthrax are making some of the most heavy and dynamic music…
Aesop Rock
New York native Ian Bavitz started rapping as a teenager, finding Hip Hop inspiration in Public Enemy, Run DMC and Boogie Down Productions while drawing musical influence from Punk outfits like Dead Kennedys, Fugazi and Ministry. Early on, Bavitz acted in a friend’s film and his character’s name became a nickname, ultimately leading to his…
Qualls, Sittenfeld to Introduce Fire Safety Legislation
New legislation will be introduced by Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls and Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld on Feb. 19 to require all rental properties to be equipped with photoelectric smoke detectors. Photoelectric detectors are supported by fire safety advocates because they better detect smoldering, smoky fires. According to the vice mayor’s office, these kinds of fires have…
CAC to Bring Patti Smith and ‘The Coral Sea’ to Cincy
Contemporary Arts Center has officially announced that Patti Smith will perform The Coral Sea with daughter/pianist Jesse Smith on May 17, in connection with her CAC exhibit, also called The Coral Sea, that opens the next day and features work not previously seen in the U.S. At the concert, Smith will also play selected material…
Morning News and Stuff
Gov. John Kasich appointed a former Republican to a Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) seat that must go to a Democrat or Independent, according to The Plain Dealer . M. Beth Trombold will finish her term as the assistant director in Kasich’s Ohio Development Services Agency in April, when she will then take up…
REVIEW: The Who Does ‘Quadrophenia’ in Louisville
For a couple of decades, I've resisted going to concerts by legendary Rock bands and icons I've loved who keep touring without much in the way of new material. I'd rather remember The Rolling Stones via video footage of their ’60 and early ’70s peak. I'd rather see The Who when there was an element…
Dangerous Liaisons (Review)
I’ve seen Christopher Hampton’s Dangerous Liaisons before. I found it pleasing to look at, but boring. I have similar feelings about the 1988 film starring John Malkovich, Glenn Close and Michelle Pfeiffer. The version of Dangerous Liaisons I like best is 1999’s Cruel Intentions. Set in a high school, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe…
Leveling Up (Review)
Critic's Pick Oh, grow up. We’ve all heard that, right? Playwright Deborah Zoe Laufer has found a vein of universality in her new play, Leveling Up, using the world of online gaming in which players vie for higher levels of power and accomplishment, as a metaphor for growing up. Receiving its world premiere at the…
Stage Door: Stop Waffling
If you're waffling between whether to go to the theater or do something else this weekend, let me help you decide: You should get a ticket to see When the Rain Stops Falling at Know Theatre. It's running through March 16, but it's going to be an in-demand ticket soon: I gave it a Critic's…
Morning News and Stuff
State legislators, particularly Republicans, have a lot of questions regarding Gov. John Kasich’s Medicaid expansion . Legislators are worried the state won’t be able to opt out of the expansion if the federal government reneges its funding promise, raising potential financial hurdles. As part of Obamacare, the federal government pays for 100 percent of the…
Qualls Raises Concerns Over Streetcar Project
The latest batch of bad streetcar news provoked a harsh memo to the city manager’s office from Vice Mayor Roxanne Qualls, a Democrat who has long supported the $125 million transit project. In the memo, Qualls wrote about “serious concerns” regarding the project’s costs and timetable. “Whether people support or oppose the streetcar project, everyone…
City Pushes Energy Efficiency Standards
With a resolution passed Wednesday, City Council is urging state legislators to maintain the energy efficiency standards that helped drive Cincinnati’s clean energy growth. State Sen. Bill Seitz, a Cincinnati Republican who chairs the Public Utilities Committee, sent out a memo Feb. 1 that suggested “a meaningful review” of the state’s energy efficiency standards, which…
Morning News and Stuff
John Cranley is calling for the city to halt progress on the streetcar after a report from The Cincinnati Enquirer revealed the city’s construction bids are $26 million to $43 million over budget . City Manager Milton Dohoney says the city might throw out the bids and start the bidding process again, but no final…
Total Immersion
Shannon, the wholly unique central figure in Marjorie Celona’s first novel, Y, is marked by a fuzzy white afro, a lazy eye and short legs. An orphan since birth, Shannon is on a perpetual search for her true identity, an emotionally and physically stunted nomad we follow from her first breath to the beginning of…
Wired for Words
“My hair is frozen — literally,” Leah Stewart says as she sits down at a back-room table at Sidewinder Coffee in Northside. It’s a frigid weekday afternoon in early February, less than three weeks after the publication of Stewart’s fourth novel, The History of Us, a Cincinnati-set coming-of-age tale marked by psychological insight, a sneakily addictive…
UC Football Coach Tommy Tuberville Settles In
The success or failure of any college football program starts with recruiting, which is why we see the coaching turnover in the sport start before the final games are played. Tommy Tuberville officially took over the University of Cincinnati football program on Dec. 8 and had less than two months to put together a recruiting…
Cincinnati vs. The World 02.13.2013
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources has revoked operating permits from D&L Energy and Hardrock Excavating after they were both discovered to have illegally dumped thousands of gallons of fracking waste into a storm drain in Youngstown, which eventually emptied into the Mahoning River. CINCINNATI -2 In the realization of my worst nightmare, a species…
Audit: CPS, Winton Woods Scrubbed Attendance Data
A new report from the state auditor found Cincinnati Public Schools and Winton Woods City Schools manipulated attendance data for the 2011-2012 school year, but the report seems to lay much of the blame on state policy, not just irresponsible school districts. CPS and Winton Woods were cited among nine school districts by State Auditor…
The Grammys Really Can’t Please Everyone
You Really Can’t Please Everyone There are a lot of winners every year at the Grammys, but organizers proved again this year that they just can’t win in the eyes of music fans. It was not even five years ago when the Grammys were routinely roasted for giving awards to past-their-prime legends like Phil Collins,…
Kasich Tax Cut Favors Wealthy
Gov. John Kasich says he’s cutting everyone’s taxes in his 2014-2015 budget, but an analysis released Feb. 7 found the plan is actually raising taxes for the poor and middle class. The Policy Matters Ohio report reveals the poorest Ohioans will see a tax increase of $63 from Kasich’s budget plan, while the top 1…
Anna Louise Inn and Western & Southern Head Back to Court
The Anna Louise Inn and Western & Southern will meet again in court in April to begin the next chapter of the ongoing zoning dispute between the longtime neighbors. In a Feb. 8 ruling, the Ohio First District Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court that Cincinnati Union Bethel, which owns the Inn, filed…
Safe Haven
Much like Tyler Perry panders to his base, Nicholas Sparks just keeps churning out soapy affairs about couples that meet and need to overcome their dark secret pasts in order to find happy ever after together and audiences can’t seem to wait for the next installment. Directed by Lasse Hallström (Chocolat), Safe Haven stars Julianne…
State of the Art
The state of Cincinnati’s literary scene has long been strong (if often underappreciated by the populace at large). More evidence of our rich literary landscape surfaced earlier this year when a pair of local residents had their novels published on the same day, culminating in a joint event at Joseph-Beth Booksellers on Jan. 8. Marjorie…
Bad Veins Regroups … Quickly!
One of Cincinnati’s finest Indie acts ever, the brilliant Bad Veins, has split in two. At the end of January, BV’s singer/songwriter/guitarist/keyboardist/“programmer” Benjamin Davis took to the group’s website to announce that co-founding member, drummer Sebastien Schultz, has decided to “move on from his time with Bad Veins.” Schultz — previously the drummer for local…
A Royal Affair
Niels Arcel, best known in the U.S. as one of the screenwriters on the original The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, reteams with Rasmus Heisterberg, his partner on that film, to tackle Bodil Steensen-Leth’s novel about madness in the dawning age of enlightenment in Denmark. Steensen-Leth’s take focuses on the perspective of Caroline Mathilde (Alicia…
Two-Sided Story Syndrome
Here’s an unfortunate fact for journalism teachers and angry website commenters all around the world: Reality sometimes has a bias. It’s not what journalism students are taught — “Always get both sides!” — but it’s true. It’s good to start a story by getting both sides, but there’s no shame in acknowledging reality often favors…
A Good Day To Die Hard
Good old John McClane (Bruce Willis) is right back in the middle of all bad things. This time, he’s traipsing off to Russia to bring his supposedly wayward son Jack (Jai Courtney) back home, but it turns out that Jack’s the apple that hasn’t fallen far from the family tree because he’s caught up in…
Who Do Those Guys Think They Are?
T wo years ago, when I first heard whispers from my more in-tune friends in the Cincinnati music scene that there was a new Hip Hop group called Those Guys making noise in the area, the discussion wasn’t about a song they put out, a mixtape they were about to drop or their electrifying live…
On My Marriage, Divorce and Christian Outlook
I used to be married. It’s funny the things we, as humans, dwell on in conversations. Everyone always asks me why I divorced. They never ask why I got married. There were many reasons why I got married (contrary to popular opinion, I did love him) and many reasons why I’m no longer married (contrary…
Escape From Planet Earth
An extraterrestrial astronaut named Scorch Supernova (voiced by Brendan Fraser) gets trapped when he responds to an SOS from an alien planet —some third rock from its sun. Co-writer and director Cal Brunker has worked with the art department of several notable animated features (Ice Age: Continental Drift and Despicable Me), but this is his…
The First Fun Supernatural Teen Romance
By all accounts, authors Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl have fashioned a more literate set of romantic teen stories, beginning with Beautiful Creatures, that traffic in the tried-and-true world of forbidden love between mortals and supernatural beings. This isn’t another Twilight fantasy about new age vegan vampires who, thanks to their glowing glittery skin, can…
Morning News and Stuff
President Barack Obama gave his State of the Union speech yesterday. During the speech, Obama outlined fairly liberal proposals for the economy, climate change, gun control and immigration. He also suggested raising the minimum wage to $9 and attaching it to rising cost of living standards. The Washington Post analyzed the proposals here . To…
Cincinnati Ballet’s ‘Romeo & Juliet’ Brings Perfect Partnerships
Partnering gets taken to the next level in Cincinnati Ballet’s Romeo & Juliet this weekend. Not only has much of the choreography changed since the company premiered this production five years ago, but the people involved have also evolved. Principal Dancer Janessa Touchet, who is performing the role of Juliet for the second time, discusses…
Art So Good, You Could Eat It (and Should)
The Art of Food is in its seventh year at The Carnegie in Covington, but it wasn’t until last year that I finally hit the opening night. It really made me regret that I’d missed the first five. What an amazing event! So I’m writing this now, while tickets are still available. Don’t miss out.…
Young Women Take on Age-Old Issues of Image, Identity
The teen and twentysomething artists of After the Fall, Women Representing Women are just beginning to explore what being a woman means. I’m twice their average age, but I can relate. I am still sorting out questions of feminine beauty and identity. Prairie Gallery’s show is not just for young women, nor is it for…
Worst Week Ever!: Feb. 6-12
WEDNESDAY FEB. 6 Everyone knows that grocery shopping sucks, but that if you eat out too many times in a row you start wondering if your parents would call you a loser or feel bad for you if they knew how bad you are at taking care of yourself. Eventually, you end up at Kroger…
On the Bus
I have lived in Cincinnati for close to 13 years and I’ve never been on a Metro bus. For the last few months I’ve been thinking about this fact, and it bothers me because I’m not sure where the problem lies. Is it Cincinnati or me? As I’ve mentioned before, I’m originally from Asheville, N.C.,…
