Snow Day
Last night after the snow started coming in really thick, I took my dog outside without his leash so we could walk around. I live on a big hill that basically shuts down anytime there's inclement weather. Salt trucks don't even bother with it. So at around 2 a.m. the street was covered with this…
Chatting with the Easter Bunny
Thousands of children across the united Stated wind up in the hospital as a result of Easter egg hunts. They’re not victims of drive-by eggings, over enthusiastic parents get a little too creative with their hiding places resulting in injury—-, so says the Thinking Children’s Accident Prevention Program Foundation. So the group sent out a…
RPM Challenge: Musicians, Start Your Engines!
The RPM Challenge, a wide-reaching project that asks musicians the world over (and in every genre) to write an album in a month, starts up again Feb. 1 (that's this Sunday). The concept — similar to the National Novel Writing Month — has grown immensely since the first Challenge in 2006, as more and more…
Music: Kathleen Edwards
With her third record, Asking for Flowers, making many critics’ “Best of ’08” lists, Kathleen Edwards can finally relax a bit and enjoy the fruits of her labors. Yet this Canadian singer/songwriter still can’t wait to get to her next show in the next town. Edwards, an Ontario native, has quietly been strengthening her reputation…
Sundance Through The Years
CityBeat has covered the Sundance Film Festival in person for over a decade. Due to economic pressures, we sat this one out enlisting the help of Scott Renshaw from the Salt Lake City Weekly. Below you can see the images and covers CityBeat has produced over the years and hear from Festival Director Geoffrey Gilmore…
Classes: Good Earth, Good Eats
One major convenience our modern civilization offers us is year-round access to foods that would otherwise be considered out of season in our area. For many folks, however, it’s a bit disconcerting to know that the majority of that food is shipped in from all around the country — if not the world. But if…
Lit: Poetry Reading at InkTank
The Over-the-Rhine-based nurturer of the written word hosts local poet Richard Hague’s dramatic reading of “Where Drunk Men Go,” a title sure to pique the interest of curious women across the Tristate (word is that Hague was inspired to write the piece after hearing fellow poet Jenny Galloway Collins complain about “wherever it is that…
Lit: Milk Money Release Party
Milk Money, a Cincinnati-based literary magazine, celebrates the release of its fourth issue, Weird Workout, at Feralmade Gallery in Northside. The magazine publishes short stories, prose and poetry from local and not so local writers. The editors and co-creators, University of Cincinnati graduates Maija Zummo and Ian Wissman, print, collate and bind the copies by…
Music: Where’s The Band? Tour
Though superstar artists aren’t as affected by the economy’s downslide (just ask AC/DC, which is selling out arenas with $100-plus tickets), independent bands are having a rougher go. After paying for gas, food, beer and condoms, it has to be hard to find enough cash to actually pay band and crew members. The folks behind…
Music: Cale Parks
If you’ve got any ill-conceived drummer jokes, you can rest assured that they don’t apply to Cale Parks. As a current member of both Aloha and White Williams, there wouldn’t seem to be a whole lot of wiggle room in Parks’ schedule. Yet he’s somehow making time to have a blossoming solo career in addition…
Events: Christian Moerlein Ceremonial Keg Tapping
It’s hard to imagine what we would do with our Friday nights had Prohibition not been repealed 75 years ago. Would we stay at home and indulge in reality show marathons? Would we have to rely strictly on wit and charm as social primer? Thankfully, we don’t have to fret about such social nightmares and…
Art: Unbroken Passion at the Creative Gallery
Unbroken Passion presents works by Joe Fisher and Sara Mulhauser that peer into questions about love, devotion and even obsession at the Creative Gallery. For this exhibition, Fisher has produced a series of delicate silverpoint drawings that immortalize words spoken by Eva Peron. The texts hover within patterned environs; it makes sense that Fisher has…
Music: Cedric Burnside & Lightnin’ Malcolm
To the uninitiated, drummer Cedric Burnside and guitarist Lightnin’ Malcolm would seem to be trapped in a perfect storm of musical cynicism. Guitar/drum duos are nearly as prevalent as more conventional trios and quartets have been in the past, and the conventions and history of the Blues have been thoroughly examined and translated over the…
Music: Passion Pit
People like to dance. This is a simple coda and one that permeates all facets of music, from Hip Hop to Pop to Rock. Knowing this, it should come as no surprise that Indie Rock, a musical tradition known primarily for shoegazing and head bobbing, would soon follow suit. Granted, there are a lot more…
Attractions: Race at the Cincinnati Museum Center
“Race” seems to be a buzzword in the media and on many people’s minds these days, and the Cincinnati Museum Center is no exception. Their newest exhibition, RACE: Are We So Different?, challenges perceptions about race and explores a variety of issues connected to that idea like how race differs from biological makeup, when and…
Art: Stellar Attraction at the Art Academy
The eloquently arranged sculptures and drawings in Stellar Attraction: An Installation by Rebecca Seeman, currently on view at the Art Academy of Cincinnati’s Pearlman Gallery, do not reveal themselves quickly. The installation is like dusk, when one begins to see stars and shades of blackness gradually. Irregular forms in steel, aluminum and black rubber have…
Music: Foreign Exchange
Because of the Internet’s omnipotent networking potential, in 2004, North Carolina-based MC Phonte established a creative kinship swapping tracks via Instant Messenger with Holland-based producer, Nicolay. They became Foreign Exchange, an eclectic side project separate from Phonte’s work with Hip Hop group Little Brother and Nicolay’s signature Drum and Bass mixes. Though debut Connected manifested…
Comedy: Cheech and Chong
“Misunderstanding” is a word that crops up a lot when discussing legendary comedy duo Cheech and Chong, whether it’s the reasons behind their original breakup, what their comedy is really about or the U.S. government's 2003 decision to send a SWAT team to arrest a then-65-year-old Tommy Chong for selling bongs over the Internet. After…
Events: Sex Week
Those of us who have been in college recently know and appreciate the amount of sex that regularly occurs on a college campus (“Yo girl! You ever heard of The Newsrecord? I’m the arts editor, lets go get some French fries and take ‘em back to my place…”). But those students who don’t have the…
Art: Fashion in Film at the Taft Museum of Art
Patrons of the Taft Museum of Art know it to be a rare kind of historical document: Furniture, artwork and architecture from an earlier era summon an aura of rigid manors, ladies’ teas and regency gowns. In that respect, it is not surprising that the Taft would aim its curatorial eye on the traveling exhibition,…
Mail Goggles: Ineffective on Mathematicians
For those of you with Gmail accounts through Google, you'll be glad to know that your future relationships will not end like your last when you decided to crash at your sister's house after a long night of drinking: Subject: Heyy SweatyFrom: You To: GirlfriendWhat are you doing! Me going to sleep with the sister…
Known by the Company We Keep?
Republicans made a lot of fuss about Barack Obama’s associations during last year’s presidential campaign. Now that same standard might come back to haunt them. Because Obama attended church where the Rev. Jeremiah Wright preached, the GOP told us it must mean that Obama shared all of Wright’s incendiary beliefs about the 9/11 terrorist attacks…
Wilmington: Hardship in the Heartland
According to 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley, Wilmington, Ohio is "a little bit like Katrina without the physical damage, ground zero for unemployment." Last night, 60 Minutes featured a segment profiling Wilmington as its largest employer prepares to shut down. Pelley's words are a strong statement for a small town that's near and dear to…
Onstage: Muse-Sick
Poet Gregory Corso has been called “The Last Beat.” Indeed, that is the title of a new documentary by Gustave Reininger to be shown as part of the upcoming "I Gave Away the Sky" Corso festival at University of Cincinnati. The festival will consider Corso’s work and legacy through an art exhibition, lecture, poetry reading,…
Multimedia: The Last Beat
Poet Gregory Corso has been called “The Last Beat.” Indeed, that is the title of a new documentary by Gustave Reininger to be shown as part of the upcoming "I Gave Away the Sky" Corso festival at University of Cincinnati. The festival considers Corso’s work and legacy through an art exhibition, lecture, poetry reading, an…
Bored of Cincy, Lamenting the NY Knicks
Since writing about Jeff Keppinger and the Reds is growing tiresome with so little new happening these days in Reds-fan land, I'm going to take a moment to lament another franchise that's seen a decade pass since its championship-caliber days. The New York Knicks lost to Philly the other night, preventing New York from achieving…
Another Cincinnati Black Man Dies
That will be the headline on March 3 after the state kills Jeff Hill even though the victim’s family is begging the parole board and governor to spare Hill’s life.—- “On Saturday, January 24th, the (Columbus) Dispatch printed the following editorial written by Jeff Hill's uncle, Eddie Sanders. The family, both the murder victims' family…
New York Times Highlights King Records
The New York Times published a story in the paper's arts section today about the history of Cincinnati-based King Records and those around town who have made it their mission to put the once-vital label back in the spotlight. The story mentions everyone from old-school King artists James Brown, Charlie Feathers and Nina Simone to…
Friday Movie Round-up: Local Alternative
The post-holiday/awards season dumping ground is upon us — just two films hit theaters this week, neither of which are likely to pique the interest of more discerning moviegoers. —- But there is another option for those disinterested in Hollywood’s recent crop of lame comedies (Paul Blart Mall Cop is really No. 1 at the…
Obama Bobblehead Night
Do you like beer and nachos? If you don't, then you should probably navigate yourself off our Web site and go over to CinWeekly and find some new recipes to try out at your next pot luck. If you're a real American and enjoy such indulgences (with a side of minor league hockey action), then…
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (Review)
Werewolves and vampires occupy the modern cultural space of myth. These creatures are our gods, our repositories of mystical and sensual power and our dark inspirations. We imbue them with supernatural power we covet, and we mark them as well with our own foibles because we want to see how great power and responsibility impacts…
Dance Dance Revolution
People like to dance. This is a simple coda and one that permeates all facets of music, from Hip Hop to Pop to Rock. Knowing this, it should come as no surprise that Indie Rock, a musical tradition known primarily for shoegazing and head bobbing, would soon follow suit. Granted, there are a lot more…
Cale Parks with Passion Pit
If you’ve got any ill-conceived drummer jokes, you can rest assured that they don’t apply to Cale Parks. As a current member of both Aloha and White Williams, there wouldn’t seem to be a whole lot of wiggle room in Parks’ schedule. Yet he’s somehow making time to have a blossoming solo career in addition…
Pollard, Firesign Theatre and More
Now this is more like it. The release sheets are fattening up as we move farther into the new year, offering considerably more possibilities with each passing Tuesday. This week offers a trio of discs from a broad spectrum of musical veterans. The first is the latest and much (but not long) anticipated solo album…
Charlie’s Corner: Unemployment Square
With still no job lined up, I decided to start my own work profile on Myspace. I figure since I don't have a job to buy a Web domain, a free one is just as good. So today I'm going to take the job hunt into my own hands and do the traditional application process.…
Blue Ball
Scott Beseler's photos from Northside Tavern's Blue Ball More photos from local inauguration parties here.
Oscar Nominations Mixed Bag (Again)
Finding fault with the Academy Awards’ Oscar nominations is kinda like getting pissed about the even more clueless Grammy nominations — discerning “aficionados” don’t take either seriously as arbiters of what’s truly “the best” in each medium. This year’s nominations, announced earlier this morning, are another mixed bag — some nominees are deserving of nods,…
Using Two Wheels is for Wimps
There are some sports that are so jaw-dropping and unique that you can't help but stare and beg for more. The sports that inspire this kind of reaction are usually very dangerous or really funny. Few are both. But it's your lucky day, I found one. Off-road unicycling. Need I say more. Check out more…
Grease (Review)
The musical Grease has been around for nearly four decades. It was fun and retro back in 1972, but 37 years later it’s more like a cartoon, at least in the touring version currently at the Aronoff Center for the Arts. Did people really act like that? Well, yes. But you can see the same…
MusicNow 2009 Lineup Announced
The avant chamber music festival, MusicNow, returns to Memorial Hall on March 11 and March 12. The "big get" this year is the Kronos Quartet, a brilliant, legendary string troupe that hasn't played in Cincinnati in 20 years. Kronos plays both nights of the event, performing music by Jim Thirwell and Glenn Branca, as well…
Mother Knows Sex
Now here’s a reality TV show that will probably raise a few eyebrows. And the good news is that it doesn’t humiliate anyone in the process.—- Patty Brisben, CEO and founder of Pure Romance, and her four kids are front and center in Mother Knows Sex, a reality TV show about the company and family…
Did You Attend the Inauguration?
If you made in to D.C. for the inauguration, let everyone know how it was. Drop some comments below about your experiences. If you have photos you'd like to share, send them to our web guru, Cameron Knight: cknight@citybeat.com. He can organize them into a gallery on our photo page or even a multimedia show…
Fries Cafe Fire
While other bars in Clifton and Northside were cleaning up after post-inauguration celebrations, employees and patrons of Fries Cafe, one of Clifton's historic neighborhood bars, were fleeing a fire. —- Employees noticed smoke billowing out of the upstairs portion of the bar as they were getting ready to leave around 2:30 a.m. It is believed…
Finding Peace of Mind in the Dark
Paranormal just seems abnormal. That’s why when I pulled up alongside a car with “Got Ghosts?” and “Ohio Paranormal Exploration Society” stickers on its side my curiosity was piqued. I got in touch with Tamara Adams, OPES’s founder and lead investigator. She said they’re frequently asked to do investigations all around the Greater Cincinnati area…
COAST Speaks with Forked Tongue
No one likes paying unnecessary taxes or wasteful government spending, but not everyone agrees on abortion, gay rights or whether pornography is harmful. A regional group that’s trying to revive its fading political power, the Coalition Opposed to Additional Spending and Taxes (COAST), knows this lesson well. That’s why at the same time it’s trying…
Inkheart (Review)
Based on Cornelia Funke’s 2003 fantasy novel for kids, director Ian Softley (The Wings of the Dove) makes a half-hearted adaptation that’s further diminished by Brendon Fraser’s signature Boy Scout performance as Mo Flochart. Mo is a “silvertongue” — somebody able to physically conjure up characters and elements of reality from any book that they…
The Wackness (Sony)
Clichéd and perceptive in equal measure, writer/director Jonathan Levine’s entertaining, occasionally affecting coming-of-age drama waxes nostalgic for … the summer of 1994? Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck) spends his final days before heading to college by selling weed and listening to Hip Hop on the sweltering streets of New York City. Luke’s best customer is his…
The Last Troubadour (Profile)
Ah, there’s always a sweet story behind the music. But before we get to the scoop, here are the topics: Hardcore bands wearing Obama T-shirts, Britney Spears’ amusing comeback, the ’70s, the ’80s (we skip the ’90s), pizza. Frankie Hill (vocals, guitar, sax) says, “We want to eat pizza. Every single night, pizza.” Recently, he…
It’s Not the Hopeless Coalition
Desperate people frequent the office where I work. One hears things. “My girlfriend locked me out of the apartment. My teeth are in there. … Somebody smells like urine. … You just got to receive the Holy Spirit. That’s all there is to it. … I’ll pay you back. I’ve got $238,000 in back pay…
School of Blues
There is that old cliché among Blues purists that says, “You have to live the Blues to play the Blues.” Don’t tell that to the dozen or so teenagers in the Blues in the Schools Band who will take the stage next weekend at the Southgate House performing as one of 25 acts on three…
The Seagull (Review)
Critic's Pick Remembering how Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s production of Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard earned a CEA for ensemble performance, it’s no surprise that a CSC production of The Seagull, also staged by Artistic Director Brian Isaac Phillips, deserves even more celebration. This show is stronger, more nuanced and more magical — a lovely whole…
Onstage: 110 in the Shade
There are moments in Mariemont Players’ 110 In The Shade when genuine theatrical impact shines through the difficulties of staging a Broadway musical of only iffy merit with a cast of 16. It’s presented on a set designed by Dennis Murphy that communicates the play's mood, as well as its time and place — a…
Large and Luminous
"It’s like chess,” Tom Bacher says of his self-invented process for painting. “I have to think 20 moves ahead.” The results of this strategic approach to making art, Luminous Paintings by Tom Bacher, opens Friday in the downtown Aronoff Center for the Arts’ Weston Art Gallery. It will fill all three galleries, which is unusual…
Making Bush and Cheney Pay
As the Bushes clear out of the White House and the Obamas move in, it’s easy to get caught up in the euphoria of a new era dawning. President Obama represents a new generation, a multiracial man in a multiracial society, and his election and inauguration have already energized the country. The country and the…
I Love You Because (Review)
Critic's Pick If you’re a Jane Austen fan at Know Theatre’s regional premiere of the 2006 musical I Love You Because, you’ll feel as if you know this story. In fact, composer Joshua Salzman and lyricist Ryan Cunningham co-opted the plot of Pride and Prejudice, reversing the central characters’ genders. If you don’t know the…
Another Seven Days of Gun Shortages and Cell Phone Surplusses
WEDNESDAY JAN. 14President-elect Barack Obama hasn’t even been given the keys to the White House yet, but he’s already saved one American industry from recession: gun sellers. The Enquirer reported today that gun enthusiasts nationwide are so afraid that Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress will take away their freedom to own assault rifles, magazines that…
Say It’s So, Joe
Local playwright Joe McDonough returns to the Cincinnati Playhouse this week for his third premiere, opening Thursday. Travels of Angelica is the winner of the 2009 Mickey Kaplan New American Play Prize. “I was at a conference with other playwrights last summer,” he says, “and I was explaining that I had this production coming up…
Everyone Thinks the Steelers Are Better, but the Cardinals Can Win the Super Bowl
It’s a measure of how little sympathy plays in professional football that we want to think of the Arizona Cardinals as some new franchise. We don’t think of the Cardinals in terms of their deep history — we just think of them in terms of losing. And we still do. Once the Cardinals punched their…
Joe the Journalist, Palin’s Whining and Other Media Developments
With apologies to Vlad Tepes, does anyone have a wooden stake and a mallet? Joe the Plumber is reporting about the Israeli-Hamas fight for the conservative web site pjtv.com. Sarah Palin again whines that she’s a victim of news media sexism, class discrimination and accusations of diva-ness while getting her facts wrong. Again. I won’t…
New Local Releases and iTunes Exclusives
New Local Releases • Local Blues/Rock king Sonny Moorman, winner of last year’s Cincinnati Entertainment Award in the Blues category, is celebrating the birth of his new CD, Live As Hell, this Friday at Cardi’s Bar and Grill in Fairfield. The $10 cover charge gets you into the show and a copy of the CD.…
Better with Age
I’m often asked whether a particular bottle will “improve” with age. Of course, all wines change with time: Tannins resolve (or soften) while primary fruit characteristics fade, allowing subtle, complex attributes to show. Whether this evolution results in a “better” wine is largely a matter of personal taste. Think of it as the difference between…
Wall-E (Disney)
Chances are the Walt Disney Company is counting their blessings that they didn’t part ways with Pixar after making Cars. The computer animation juggernaut — and arguably a Disney savior — has again proved who wears the pants in the relationship. The ninth film in Pixar’s prestigious repertoire propels nearly 800 years into the future.…
Royal Bangs with Come On Caboose
Royal Bangs’ sound could be accurately connected to numerous archetypes of Modern Rock: the proverbial so-and-so meets so-and-so comparisons generally apply. Sometimes the Bangs sound a lot like important bands that people love, but, strangely, they don’t sound too much like any one in particular. They are new, fresh, jazzy and kind of raw. Surprisingly,…
Longworth’s Tavern (Review)
There it was, high atop Mount Adams on St. Gregory Street: Longworth’s Tavern, the long-standing neighborhood bar and grill touting two floors, a patio and a recently reopened kitchen. Hoorah! We braved the brisk temperature and the steep hill to indulge in an evening of excessive food and drink. My good friend (let’s call her…
Religion at Work
Religion at Work Kevin Osborne’s Porkopolis column on the Founding Fathers’ religious beliefs (“A Crash Course in [Real] U.S. History,” issue of Jan. 14) is excellent as well as little known. Renaissance men questioned talking snakes, towns of Babel and floods with no explanation as to where all the water went. The Muslim war against…
Pink Sorrow
Untimely death in Rock is a tragedy as old as the form itself. Last summer, Fort Collins, Col., Emo/melodic Pop quartet Tickle Me Pink joined that sad roll call when bassist Johnny Schou inexplicably died in his sleep on the eve of the release of Madeline, the band’s full-length debut. It was a blow that…
110 in the Shade (Review)
There are moments in Mariemont Players’ 110 in the Shade when genuine theatrical impact shines through the difficulties of staging a Broadway musical of only iffy merit with a cast of 16. It’s presented on a set designed by Dennis Murphy that communicates the play's mood, as well as its time and place: a drought-scourged,…
Platinum on a Shoestring Budget
After winning three local design awards for its space, Emersion Design is celebrating the most important “win” of them all: platinum certification by the U.S. Green Building Council (USBGC). And they pulled it off for less money than a standard office space renovation. “The USGBC has finished their initial review for Emersion Design’s space at…
Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell (PlexiFilm)
One reason it’s become so hard for new musicians to make an impact is because so many old ones — including deceased ones — are still being discovered (or rediscovered) thanks to the proselytizing efforts of those who somehow got turned on to their obscure work the first time around. In this media age, those…
Zelazowa with 500 Miles to Memphis
James Conlon and Paavo Jarvi and a professor or two from CCM might be able to tell you that Zelazowa is the birthplace of Frederick Chopin, but they might not be able to translate the Polish name into its loose English meaning, which is “steel will.” For that, you might require the talents of the…
Unearthing a Masterpiece
In the 1970s, Cincinnati’s Patricia Renick was one of a generation of women sculptors who came into their own as wildly influential artists who broadened the possibilities of what sculpture and art could look like. It could even look like a cross between a stegosaurus and a Volkswagen, as one of her most famous monumental…
Being Neighborly
For almost three decades, Invest in Neighborhoods Inc. (IIN) has overseen how taxpayer money is distributed to Cincinnati’s neighborhood groups, doling out hundreds of thousands of dollars to areas ranging from Avondale to Winton Place and all points in between. But that role might soon come to an end amid allegations about the organization’s slippery…
Chekhov, Revisited
If you’ve seen The Seagull at Cincinnati Shakespeare Company (and CityBeat theater reviewer Tom McElfresh recommends that you do), then you should plan a return visit for The Nina Variations, playwright Steven Dietz’s delightful take on the final scene of Chekhov’s play. CSC offers another way to see the 1896 classic, via Dietz’s 1996 script,…
