If Taxpayers Are Buying, Would You Expect Free Drinks?
"Isn't that surprising?" Dusty Rhodes asks. Before you know what the question means, you have to understand Rhodes is the Hamilton County Auditor. Hamilton County has finished its first audit of tax funds spent by the Cincinnati Zoo. But Hamilton County's audit wasn't done by the Hamilton County Auditor. In fact, the Hamilton County Auditor…
Wrestling with Obscurity
I didn't expect any gratitude from The Rock, so I could hardly be disappointed. Still, it was a bitter pill when in The Rock Says …, his best-selling autobiography, the WWF's Big Man on Canvas made absolutely no reference to me or our past association. Nowhere did he mention our time together at Colgate pursuing…
Critics’ Picks
Thursday 1Nothing but the best for us! You wouldn't catch us dead at a rent-a-room-by-the-hour dive motel. We treat our worn-out bodies to the crème de la crème. GRAND HOTEL: THE MUSICAL is the only way to go. We're talking courtesy robes and mints on the pillow. There's even singing bellhops. Now that's styling. (See…
Mike Allen, Art Critic
Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen knows "vile photographs" when he sees them. That's why, on Feb. 13, he charged local photographer Tom Condon and Deputy Hamilton County Coroner Jonathan Tobias on 12 counts of abuse of a corpse and one count of breaking and entering. Chances are you've already heard the story. While being considered…
Go Robot Go
Columbus' Go Robot Go have made such frequent stops in Cincinnati that it only makes sense that they host a Queen City-based CD release party for their new album, Wait 3 Days … Then Attack! The album is the group's finest to date, loaded with GRG's singular brand of creative, futuristic Pop/Rock. Differing from…
Doing It to Death: Blacks and AIDS
"Your revolution will not happen between these thighs." — Sarah Jones The Black Church is a sleeping old slave. Can I get an amen? I didn't think so. No one wants to talk about the ineffectiveness of the Black Church in awakening black folks to the ignorance of passing AIDS among ourselves. We do so…
Cover Story: Memphis in the Meantime
Jon Hughes/photopresse.com Writing on the wall, Graceland grounds Amazingly, I wasn't an Elvis fan in the 1970s, the decade in which 1.5 billion tuned in to the Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii TV special via satellite. In our household, in the southern Ohio countryside, Elvis Presley wasn't a household name. When I was learning to…
Rhymin’ Without Reason
I don't know what you were up to last Wednesday evening, but I was at home dutifully watching the Grammys so I could catch the latest live performance from the diva of all divas, Madonna. Of course, I think everyone else in the worldwide audience tuned in to see the much-hyped and much-maligned performance from…
News: Just Us
Defending the earth can be a dangerous business, leading to arrest and torture, according to Lisa Sock of Amnesty International. You're not likely to see this kind of notice on your next pair of jeans or gym shoes: "Warning: This product was made in a sweatshop by peasants driven from their land by a…
Curly Tales of the City
Growing up at 25In about a week, look for a major announcement from WAIF: The station will be moving to new quarters later this year. WAIF (88.3 FM) is acquiring a former movie theater converted to a conservative synagogue in Roselawn. The new digs will give the station four studios, double its current number, and…
Newcomers gravy8 make tastefully done Pop Rock for the masses
gravy8 We've all heard the phrase "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing." Luckily, for Pop-Rock trio gravy8, they have a whole helluva lot of knowledge. The members of gravy8 come from different musical backgrounds, but there is no doubt that all three know exactly what they're doing. Bassist Jeff Conner, a veteran of…
Relationships
Remember when Arsenio Hall had a late night talk show? Once in a while, he would do a routine called "Things that make you go hmmm." That is what's on my mind today, just a stream-of-consciousness, relationship-type stuff without any cohesion. Like right now I'm in the middle of reading the new book, Candyland, by…
Jeb Loy Nichols Just What Time It Is
Jeb Loy Nichols Despite it startling mix of musical genres — Reggae, Country, Pop, and vintage Soul — Jeb Loy Nichols' new CD, Just What Time It Is, is one of the smoothest albums of the year. Fortunately, Nichols, an American singer/songwriter now living in London, never lets the album devolve into lackluster middle-of-the-road…
Streetbeat
Carthage Carthage Center presents a variety of winter programs. Boredom Buster Workshop meets 3:30-5:30 p.m. Friday. "Birds of A Different Feather" is the program from 3:30-5:30 p.m. March 9 The center's monthly dinner is at 5 p.m. March 9. For more information, call 513-821-2954. Mason The League of Women Voters presents the nonpartisan discussion "Regional…
