Whirlygig: 10
Disappearing Act Snuggled under my duvet watching the Golden Globes, I realized I saw most of the movies that were nominated this year. You might say I've binged on movies of late since there seems to be an abundance of decent ones released. As the camera panned the tables for the appropriate actors, actresses and…
Meditation
"Thou hast made me endless, such is thy pleasure. This frail vessel thou emptiest again and again, and fillest it ever with fresh life." — Rabindranath Tagore Buddhists teach that emptiness is the experience of nonseparation when our thoughts, focused on our lives, are released. In those moments of release, we can experience a sense…
Diner: Cozy Niche
Nick Sanders is my husband's idol. What a life this man has! All the best imported British and Irish beer he can drink, plus his trips to Scotland and England can be written off as "business research." Brilliant. Sanders is the man behind the Tavern Group, proprietor of DeSha's, Downtown's Scottish-themed Nicholson's Tavern, and the…
News: Cincinnati Might
Jymi Bolden Protesters try to meet with Cincinnati CAN at the Greater Cincinnati foundation offices. It's almost easier to define Cincinnati Community Action Now (CAN) by what it isn't. CAN isn't producing a report to be plopped on the desks of politicians, then filed on a shelf, its leaders say. CAN isn't a permanent…
News: Work Won’t Kill You
Catrina Weber (left) and Cassandra Denton (right) rally with the Welfare Rights Coalition in Cincinnati. Welfare is supposed to be for people like Catrina Weber, a disabled 40-year-old struggling to raise her 5-year-old son. "When I get home at night, it hurts so bad, sometimes I have to crawl on the floor just to…
King for a Day
That you are reading this column days after the reflection upon, celebration of and guilt tripping over Martin Luther King Day is precisely the point. Just because a day's been set aside doesn't mean it's inappropriate to mull — on any other day of the year — the things we think we're honoring and highlighting…
Is There Any Hope for the Southwest Ohio Green Party?
Does anyone take the Green Party seriously? Their Cincinnati City Council candidate finished last among 27 candidates in 2001. They have $56.14 in their bank account, and their Web site hasn't been updated in more than a year. Ten people attended the party's Jan. 7 meeting in the basement of a Hartwell apartment building. That's…
Camron Wright: Letters For Emily
For some men, the shiny red Miata works. For others, a new wife tops a convertible. The male mid-life crisis isn't satiated logically. A man with no writing experience might even decide to pen a bestseller. Meet Camron Wright, author of Letters for Emily. After college, he and his wife put their degrees together…
The Road to Hell Is Paved with CAN Meetings
Ever since Mayor Charlie Luken formed a blue-ribbon task force to address last April's riots and called it Cincinnati CAN (Community Action Now), the puns have proliferated. Critics of the task force call it "Cincinnati CAN'T" and "Cincinnati WON'T." Mayoral candidate Courtis Fuller tried to gig his rival by weaving "Cincinnati will!" into his campaign…
Puttin’ Out the Bone
It works like this. Trust me. I've been around campaigns for most of my adult life, sometimes as a volunteer but also on the payroll. I've run for office myself. A campaign staff member gives the candidate a "money list" with names, phone numbers, donor profiles and an amount the candidate should ask the potential…
VPN
VPN For Nearby Stars by New York City's VPN (formerly Very Pleasant Neighbor) is one of the finest Indie Pop albums of the past year that didn't show any overt Beatles/Big Star/Beach Boys influences. Eschewing string sections and predictable harmonies and melodies for a more unique and down-to-earth approach, VPN blur their influences together…
A New Face for SCPA
Since adopting the orphaned Woodward High School building in 1973, the School for Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA) has been at home in Over-the-Rhine. As the school anticipates a new facility designed to suit its purposes, it's important that community and student concerns aren't left behind. The selection of SCPA for a new building under…
