Locals Only: : Untamed West
Dale M. Johnson Mack West Multi-instrumentalist Zachary Mechlem's heritage is Eastern European Gypsy. This is indicative of his far-flung stylistic leaning, which wanders from India to Spain and lifts sound from all points in between. His latest project, Mack West, has found an unexpected home in the Old American West, saturating both music and subject…
Upcoming Concerts with The Wanteds, The Spunks and More…
The Spunks The Wanteds (part of "Electrofest") Friday · Southgate House Parlour Come see the man, then wait for the movie. If everything goes as planned, Tommy Harrington, the sole member of The Wanteds, is going to be the subject of a documentary released later this year. Dave Kopilak, a Portland lawyer-turned-filmmaker, hired a director…
For Love and Money
An artist friend of mine — an authentic '60s hippie if there ever was one — speaks of a time when public funding for artists was readily available. He reminisces that it didn't matter where an artist lived, whether big city or rural retreat. There was always financial help available, most often on the federal…
As Season Winds Down, UC Is OK and Xavier Needs Help
Jerry Dowling Between college basketball's bottom-heavy emphasis on the NCAA Tournament and the NBA's call to the best schoolboy basketball players, the relevance of college basketball now roughly coincides with the call to pitchers and catchers for spring training. How college basketball teams have come along through the year, how they've answered the challenges from…
Diner: Mangia, Mangia
When it comes to Italian restaurants, I am definitely hard to please. Three-quarters Italian, my blood runs thick from Calabria and Apulia in the deep Italian south — a vibrant, sunburned land where the food and wine are heady and strong. Put me in an Italian restaurant, and I can't help but measure everything against…
Troilus & Cressida
Rob Jansen and Corinne Mohlenhoff play Troilus & Cressida in CSF's production of the dark tale of love and war. An avalanche of Cincinnati theater crashes down on Thursday — from Shakespeare to a world premiere at the Cincinnati Playhouse. CSF's artistic director, BRIAN ISAAC PHILLIPS, has fallen in love with TROILUS & CRESSIDA, written…
“Play” Time
There's a lot of action in Kim Taylor's world these days. The singer/songwriter (who nabbed the 2004 Cincinnati Entertainment Award for Singer/Songwriter of the year) is slated to perform in Texas with her full band (Amos Heller, Josh Seurkamp and Ric Hordinski) at this year's South By Southwest music fest/conference in mid-March. Before that, she'll…
Cover Story: Baby, You Can Paint My Car
Jon Hughes/photopresse.com Art On Wheels I logged another sighting this morning. The first time I saw it — an old Volkswagen van painted orange and brown with Cleveland Browns posters stuck against the side windows — it was trundling up Hamilton Avenue in Northside under a slate-grey sky. A couple of days later, in almost…
Lunch with Jerry Springer
Have you been trying to book a lunch with Jerry Springer, but his office never seems to return your calls? (Jerry, would it help if I confessed to being a former lesbian dominatrix with webbed feet?) Well, now I — um, I mean you — can buy Jerry's undivided attention and bid on other fabulous…
Elementz of Youth
The recording studio is ready to go. But the walls of Elementz, formerly known as the Hip Hop Youth Arts Center, will be bare for the grand opening Feb. 24. The youth Gavin Leonard hopes to draw through the doors will design their own space, he explains. "We're going to let young people make the…
News to Use
Plan for Peace and Justice The Intercommunity Peace and Justice Committee meets at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Peaslee Neighborhood Center. For more information, call 513-579-8547. Seeking Peace Peace Seekers meets at 10 a.m. Saturday on the fourth floor of Llanfair Retirement Community, 1722 Larch Ave., College Hill. For more information, contact hrwoodruff@igc.org. War is…
This Just In: Disabilities Don’t End Happiness
Maybe I'm in a bad mood and didn't even know it, but a new study I read about this morning is rubbing me the wrong way. Wait. Let's measure my mood. Am I happy? Is it possible, probable or surprising that I might be happy? According to this study, conducted by a University of Michigan…
News: Steal This Bookstore
Sean Hughes/photopresse.com While blowing up Indian Hill would be against the law, writing about the benefits of doing so is protected by the First Amendment — for now, at least. The American right to freedom of expression is at the heart of a new Northside bookstore. Nestled between the Serpent Lounge and Rose of Sharon…
.andrew. – Bulletproof Charm
Dale M. Johnson .andrew. – Bulletproof Charm · Jeff Buckley Grace The most influential album, the most influential artist, of all of my years of listening to music. Many artists try to fuse together a lot of different styles of music, but fail to run a common thread throughout. Andy Wallace took Buckley's eclectic…
You’re Better Than That
I was surprised and disappointed when I read Swizzle, your recent "Locals' Guide to Bars and Clubs" (issue of Feb. 2-8). You glaringly omitted one of the hottest new destination spots on the East side of town, Oakley Square. It's like you went to every bar in the area, on back roads and isolated areas,…
Fixing Things
I'm a 24-year-old straight female. I just moved to a new city where I don't know anyone. So the other night I hung out with a 21-year-old jock from work. We went to a bar and eventually wound up back at his apartment, where we both smoked pot. I was thinking he was a muscle-bound…
Hotel Rwanda director Terry George on history’s lessons
Hotel Rwanda filmmaker Terry George has an ideal goal regarding his acclaimed drama about the 1994 Rwandan genocide, when Hutu extremists slaughtered their Tutsi neighbors. He wants to remind people about the Western nations' failure to intervene and perhaps, prevent a similar tragedy from happening again. "This experience has left me with an obligation to…
Music: Let’s Stay Together
Kate Zimmerman Breaking up is hard to do: Despite the romantic breakup of Parker Noon (top right) and Lily Wolfe (top left), their band's music has strengthened. The breakup record holds a hallowed place in the annals of Rock history. Fleetwood Mac's dewy Rumours, Bruce Springsteen's languid Tunnel of Love and Marvin Gaye's caustic Here,…
Protection From Council in a Can
April L. Martin Roger Owensby Sr. reacts to a comment by a police officer allegedly involved in his son's death. President Bush's spending habits must be rubbing off locally: The city of Cincinnati brings in $3 million more than expected, and who's the first clamoring to spend it? The Republicans on city council. Councilmen Chris…
Living Out Loud: : “Don’t Give Up On Me”
It's been more than seven years since he said those words to me. He looked up from his beer and with watery, sunken eyes cried them out. He was an old friend. We'd met in college 23 years earlier. He was my English professor and I was his student and we took a liking to…
