Arts Study Is Roadmap to Wider Public Support
The Fine Arts Fund has released the results of a year-long study intended to start the process of building more collective responsibility in Greater Cincinnati for the arts. Despite the general public’s longstanding support for arts and culture in their communities, charitable giving to and public funding of the arts struggle to keep up with…
Meeting with the Mayor
For the fifth year in a row, Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory is giving citizens an opportunity to talk with him one-on-one. Mallory announced the 2010 schedule today for the Mayor’s Night In program. The biweekly event allows people to have a five-minute individual meeting with Mallory to discuss any topic.—- Citizens may begin signing in…
One More Girl on a Stage
Things seem to have progressed since the Lilith Fair festival began in 1997 as a response to female performers' exclusion from other big fests of the time. Not that sexism doesn't still exist — the playing field just seems more level these days. Kelly Thomas (pictured), organizer of Friday and Saturday's “One More Girl on…
Sports: All-Mascot Exhibition Broomball Game
What is “broomball,” you ask? It’s a combination of soccer and hockey where players wear gym shoes, not skates, and use a hockey-stick-like utensil with a broom-shaped head to pass a ball back and forth on an ice rink in order to score a goal. And while Fountain Square has it’s own Broomball League that…
The Book of Eli (Review)
Falling on the heels of The Road, here is a similarly themed vision of a post-apocalyptic dystopia where cannibals and criminals make up what’s left of the human species. Survivalist extraordinaire Eli (Denzel Washington) has spent the last 30 years — since the world's final war — walking and lying in wait to kill his…
Music: Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles
When Sarah Borges appeared in Cincinnati last September on the MidPoint Music Festival’s closing night, she had more than an inkling of what lay ahead for her and the Broken Singles. Borges was ailing (with what she described as “the Mongolian face flu”), they were playing the unknown-to-them Know Theatre and they were following the…
Comedy: Jimmy Dore
Though he has plenty of material about things like deer not being able to hear car horns and what it was like growing up poor, Jimmy Dore describes his current set as more “current eventsy.” With the success of his DVD/concert special Citizen Jimmy, the Chicago native is taking on more of today’s hot-button issues.…
Events: 35th Annual MLK March
In the four decades since his death, Martin Luther King, Jr. stands as an international symbol of peaceful resistance and the manifest destiny of freedom to triumph over bigotry and oppression. The struggle for worldwide human rights continues while Dr. King’s work is celebrated at MLK Day events around the nation. Locally, a march commemorating…
Lit: Writer’s Digest 90th Anniversary Party
Cincinnati-based trade magazine Writer’s Digest has been offering its literary tips nearly as long as electricity has been in most homes. And, amid a fleeting, fast-paced age in which everyone thinks they’re a writer (type “blog” into a Google search field and see what happens), its advice is (or should be) as vital as ever.…
Events: Gaza Massacre Rally
When Americans hear the date Sept. 11, 2001, we all think about the same event. It sticks in our minds and hearts with such intensity that we can never forget. The same cannot be said for Dec. 27, 2008-Jan. 18, 2009. What is now being referred to as the “Gaza Massacre” is still unknown to…
Screaming Mimes CD Release Party
The first time I put on Got to Tell the World, the new album by local Pop/Rock foursome Screaming Mimes, and cued up the first track, “You're the Kind of Girl,” I listened for about a minute then had to run outside to pay my parking meter. Walking back to the office, I found myself…
The Lovely Bones (Review)
Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) narrates the story of … what exactly? She tells us almost from the start that she died at 14 years old. And it's not simply that she died; she was murdered by a neighbor (Stanley Tucci), an evil serial molester, all the more sinister in skewed feverish angles. Peter Jackson (The…
Indie Dance Night With DJ Greg Poneris
If anyone should understand what beats get a crowd moving, it’s a drummer. It helps if it’s a kick-ass drummer from a kick-ass band that specializes in highly-adrenalized Electro Dance Pop. That’s what you’ll get Friday at Mayday in Northside, as Greg Poneris — drummer for local Neo New Wave powerhouse Eat Sugar — mans…
Music: Bowerbirds with Julie Doiron
In the wake of the 2005 demise of vaunted indie band Ticonderoga, guitarist/vocalist Phil Moore and keyboardist/vocalist Mark Paulson decided to maintain their working relationship. They invited accordionist/vocalist Beth Tacular to complete their resurrection as a band. It was Tacular who dubbed the newly minted unit Bowerbirds, after an Australian species known for the male’s…
Sports: Yoga with the Masters
Who knew that Matisse, Picasso, Derain and van Gogh were yoga masters as well as groundbreaking Modernist artists? Starting Tuesday, and continuing for four Tuesdays thereafter, Cincinnati Art Museum will hold “Yoga With the Masters” classes from 6-7:15 p.m. in its Modernist galleries, allowing practitioners to stretch and meditate in the after-hours presence of art's…
Music: Indie Dance Night with DJ Greg Poneris
If anyone should understand what beats get a crowd moving, it’s a drummer. It helps if it’s a kick-ass drummer from a kick-ass band that specializes in highly-adrenalized Electro Dance Pop. That’s what you’ll get Friday at Mayday in Northside, as Greg Poneris, the skins-beater for Neo New Wave powerhouse Eat Sugar, mans the DJ…
Events: Christian Moerlein Cincy Beer Showcase
There’s always talk of shopping local, supporting local artists and eating locally grown food, but this Saturday you’ll have the chance to drink local at Arnold’s as local brewery Christian Moerlein shows off its impressive stable of Cincinnati beer. Sip, sample, taste or chug from your choice of Moerlein brews such as Lager House, OTR…
Music: Marc Rizzo
In the Metal omniverse, there aren’t many purveyors of six-string mayhem that are better or busier than Marc Rizzo. Spending a good deal of his time recording and touring with Max Cavalera’s dual projects — Soulfly and Cavalera Conspiracy — Rizzo somehow managed to crowbar into his triple stacked day planner a solo career, a…
Events: Professional Championship Bullriders Tour
Is there anything more entertaining than watching people try not to fall off of stuff, like rolling logs or assorted mammals? It’s either going to be really funny or really scary when they actually hit the ground and pretty exciting while they try to stay on whatever they’re on. It’s a very basic concept that…
Events: African Culture Fest
The Cincinnati Museum Center celebrates the 25th anniversary of African Culture Fest and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day with a three-day party. This “Passport to the World” event kicks off Saturday with an “African Village” set up in the rotunda; tales from professional storyteller Omope Carter Daboiku; Oh Freedom! (the Cincinnati Opera’s musical tribute to…
Austin City Limits Gets Bastardized
Gas up the ol’ Tivo (that's how they run, right?) and set it for Jan. 23, when the Austin City Limits live music TV program (one of the best shows on television, especially for real music fans, and the longest-running one) airs its episode featuring Cincy-bred/Austin-based rockers The Heartless Bastards. Each hour-long show is split…
Prop 8 Showdown Begins Today
It's been a long time coming, but today gays and lesbians are finally taking the fight for our rights where it belongs, through the federal justice system. The trial before the U.S. Supreme Court on same-sex marriages in California begins today and the result of Perry v. Schwarzenegger is expected to affect gay marriage legislation…
Palin Joins Fox: Stating the Obvious
The New York Times is reporting today that Sarah Palin has been hired by Fox News to be a regular contributor to the cable news channel. Uh, didn’t she work there already? This is like reporting “Dog bites man.”—- Maybe she didn’t get paid for it previously, but Palin has certainly filled that role ever…
Bowerbirds with Julie Doiron
In the wake of the 2005 demise of vaunted indie band Ticonderoga, guitarist/vocalist Phil Moore and keyboardist/vocalist Mark Paulson decided to maintain their working relationship. They invited accordionist/vocalist Beth Tacular to complete their resurrection as a band. It was Tacular who dubbed the newly minted unit Bowerbirds, after an Australian species known for the male’s…
Wake-Up Call
Once every generation or so a Broadway musical turns the complacent world of happy entertainment upside down. That happened in 1968 when Hair adopted the world of Rock music and its many accouterments in clothing, hairstyles, drugs and more. Such was the case again in 1996 when Rent took an old story (Puccini’s 1896 opera…
Music: Sarah Borges
Sarah Borges and the eventual Broken Singles began to coalesce in 2004. Starting with drummer Robert Larry Dulaney and eventually adding bassist/comic and musical foil Binky and guitarist/soon-to-be-husband Lyle Brewer, Borges moved the Broken Singles from side project to full-fledged band within a couple of years. Her first album, 2005’s Silver City on Blue Corn…
Onstage: Spring Awakening
Spring Awakening (2006 Tony winner), is onstage in a touring production through Jan. 24 at the Aronoff Center. Like Rent, Spring Awakening is based on a century-old work, in this case a controversial 1891 German play about adolescents dealing with coming-of-age anxieties. Like Hair and Rent, the show uses an electrifying Rock score that reflects…
Leap Year (Review)
Amy Adams has cornered the market on adorably cute and feisty young women seeking either the perfect guy or the recipe to change their lives (and land them the perfect guy). Here she’s working without a dramatic net (Meryl Streep has grounded her in Doubt and Julie & Julia), but she’s in the solid and…
The Tillers CD Release Party
Local Roots/Bluegrass/Folk/Americana trio The Tillers released their newest full length album, By the Signs, on Jan. 9, 2010, at a CD release party and concert at the Southgate House. Magnolia Mountain and the Dirt Daubers opened. Read Brian Baker's CityBeat cover story on The Tillers and By the Signs here.
Marc Rizzo with In Rage and Parable Heresy
In the Metal omniverse, there aren’t many purveyors of six-string mayhem that are better or busier than Marc Rizzo. Spending a good deal of his time recording and touring with Max Cavalera’s dual projects — Soulfly and Cavalera Conspiracy — Rizzo somehow managed to crowbar into his triple stacked day planner a solo career, a…
Hot Live Singles!
When Sarah Borges appeared in Cincinnati last September on the MidPoint Music Festival’s closing night, she had more than an inkling of what lay ahead for her and the Broken Singles. Borges was ailing (with what she described as “the Mongolian face flu”), they were playing the unknown-to-them Know Theatre and they were following the…
CityBeat Podcast 42: The Radical Media
This week we've mined our archives to bring out one of my favorite recordings: the Radical Media discussion from Cincinnati's 2003 Independent Media Expo. The Expo was a media educational and networking event that I helped organize in 2003. It was hosted by Media Bridges. This panel discussion included Dr. Ellen Bierhorst, Jimmy Heath and…
Uncle Sam Wants You … for the Census
In light of the current recession and the high unemployment rate — particularly among younger adults who make up a large portion of CityBeat’s demographics — we’re publicizing an employment opportunity that also benefits the public interest.—- The U.S. Census Bureau is accepting applications for jobs related to conducting the 2010 Census in the Greater…
Blood Donation Ban Illogical
Last summer in the United Kingdom, Dij Bentley’s mother died from acute myeloid leukemia. Prior to her death, she developed an infection that required a blood transfusion. Family and friends were asked to donate blood in hope they would be a match.—- Wanting to help his dying mother, Bentley tried to donate blood but was…
Youth in Revolt (Review)
Director Miguel Arteta adapts C.D. Payne's 1993 novel to predictably comic, if not full-blown, outrageous effect. Michael Cera is well cast as Nick Twisp, the precocious lust-driven teenage son of separated low-life parents played by Steve Buscemi and Jean Smart. Nick hopes for an end to his virginity when he runs into the similarly nerdy…
Friday Movie Roundup: Terry Gilliam’s Imagination
There’s no denying that Terry Gilliam has a vast imagination. But is that a good thing for his films and those who have to watch them? —- Brazil (1985) has long been dubbed a masterpiece, a sentiment I do not fully share. Sure, it’s a presciently satirical look at an Orwellian society that relies on…
Fashion Inspiration: G-Star Raw NYFW Contest
It's a new year and what better way to get off on the right foot by getting up close and personal at New York's Fall 2010 Fashion Week! G-Star Raw is a high-end designer line on the cutting edge of denim fashion. The brand is looking for "rookie" runway reporters to cover the G-Star Raw…
Things Heat Up for Foxy Shazam
The hard work local experimental Rock/Soul/Pop/Prog/Glam oddballs Foxy Shazam have put in on the road the past couple of years is starting to pay off big time. Recent Foxy news includes everything from the impending release of the band’s major-label debut for Sire Records to gigging with Courtney Love in the U.K. to collaborations with…
Stage Door: Bruffy Quits Utah Gig
Not much to recommend onstage this weekend. In fact, there's really nothing going on as local theater companies are rehearsing for productions that will open later in the month. But there there is drama in Salt Lake City involving a former Cincinnati theater artist. Less than four months on the job, Jason Bruffy, artistic director…
Yoo Who?
If you care about human rights, the mere mention of the name John Yoo probably is enough to get your blood boiling and make your stomach churn.—- Yoo, now 42, is an attorney who served in the Office of White House Counsel during President George W. Bush’s administration. While there, he wrote several infamous memorandums…
Sugarcreek MetroPark Hike
Key At-A-Glance Information Length: 4.64 milesConfiguration: LoopDifficulty: Easy-moderateScenery: Woodlands, tallgrass prairie, and creekExposure: Sun and shadeTraffic: HeavyTrail Surface: Paved, soil, and gravelHiking Time: 2.5-3.5 hoursDriving Distance: 1 hour from CincinnatiSeason: Year-roundAccess: The park is open April 1-October 31, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.; November 1-March 31, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and is closed Christmas…
Sister Hazel, Glenn Tilbrook, Alec Ounsworth, Lisa Germano and Even Frank Zappa
Contrary to my wife’s dire predictions, we survived hosting her family for the annual Christmas Day celebration. As the youngest of seven, with a large extended group of nieces and nephews (and now, amazingly, their children), Melissa has constantly felt the scrutiny of her older siblings, often imagining it to be considerably more pointed and…
Local Music Gets Year/Decade End List Love
The local rockers of Wussy received some well-deserved “list love” at the end of 2009. A writer for the Patriot Ledger in Massachusetts named the band’s self-titled Shake It Records release (the band’s third) one of the Top 10 of last year, former Afghan Whigger Greg Dulli put it at No. 4 on his list…
Music: Neon Swing X-perience
OK, here’s the deal … a “new rule,” if you will: If you move to Cincinnati and are in a really good active band, even though your bandmates might not live here, we still get to claim you as an honorary “local band.” (If your band sucks, well, we’ll pass. Thanks.) So, with this new…
Sun’s Gonna Shine Anyway
I haven’t written about him. I haven’t been able to understand what happened. I wrestled with the beginning — and the ending, well, a mess. Words surfaced here and there, but I shook them off. I didn’t want to hit that story lurking there, that not-so-old wound. Last year at this time I was madly…
A Youthful Perspective
The new year often prompts thoughts of new beginnings, perhaps leading to a resolution or two. As I thought about my first column of 2010, it occurred to me that such beginnings could be focused on introducing young people to the theater for the first time. Adults who help children experience the arts have a…
Bono, The Who and Chris Cornell
[HOT] Bono Dictates New Decade All was not quiet on the day after New Year’s Day this year, especially in The New York Times — hard to keep quiet when you give U2’s singer some big op-ed space. Bono wrote an extensive piece for the “Liberal Rag” (copyright: Fox News Corps.) offering 10 ways to…
Hot Blast of Blues
The Blues can often conjure images of sweltering heat and sweat-inducing sun rays (like in that movie, Crossroads, with the Karate Kid), but a swift winter chill can be just as fitting. Be it Seasonal Affective Disorder or just the need for some down and dirty grooves to grind to (and keep warm), the Blues…
Roma Italian (Review)
Every time I venture to the West Side or Mount Adams it strikes me how easy it is for outsiders to get lost in these areas. In Mount Adams it’s because of the narrow one-way streets that all seem to be oriented opposite the direction you want to go. On the West Side it’s myriad…
Music: Sohio CD Release Party
When CityBeat did a Locals Only profile on Butler County kinda Roots kinda Indie/Alt rockers Sohio a few months ago, it was confirmed that their forthcoming album was finished (after more than three years in the making) and that it would be released in early 2010. What the band members didn’t know was what the…
Keeping Families Together
During the holiday season, it’s nearly impossible to ignore the importance of family. Yet while many of us spent the holiday season celebrating and reconnecting with loved ones, we couldn’t avoid the fact that so many others in Cincinnati didn’t spend the season with their families — immigrants who are unable to reunite with families…
A Fight for the Local GOP’s Soul
It’s only the first week in January, but already political campaigns are gearing up for what likely will be the most high-profile local race this year. There was little surprise this week when Cincinnati City Councilwoman Leslie Ghiz (pictured) finally confirmed months of speculation by announcing her candidacy for the Hamilton County commission. Ghiz, a…
A Chair with Flair
For aspiring musical theater performers, the expectation — and reality — is that you have to have it all: a great voice, dancing skills and acting chops. Opera singers increasingly face the same demands from audiences who want nothing less than performances that are compelling dramatically as well as musically. There’s little argument that great…
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (Review)
Terry Gilliam is popularly considered the victim of a terrible curse that brings disaster down on his nearly every film. Gilliam’s editing battles over his masterpiece Brazil are the stuff of legend. So hellacious were the director's attempts at making The Man Who Killed Don Quixote that a documentary (Lost in La Mancha) was made…
Points of Departure
The three recently-opened exhibitions at downtown’s Weston Art Gallery in the Aronoff Center for the Arts couldn’t be more different, with Rick Mallette, Alice Pixley Young and Steve Zieverink each boasting their own flair. Rick Mallette originates from Saginaw, Mich., and earned his BFA from Western Michigan University. He earned his Master’s in Painting and…
Slow Ride to Nowhere?
With the election of a new City Council, the future looks uncertain for Cincinnati’s Environmental Justice Ordinance. The first-of-its-kind law, which was slated to go into effect Dec. 21, was touted by backers such as former councilman David Crowley as a way to ensure the city’s poorest residents are protected from heavily-polluting businesses. But the…
Alan Kalmanoff and Joe Deters
[WINNER]ALAN KALMANOFF: Local political junkies will remember Kalmanoff as the city of Cincinnati’s first federally-appointed police monitor, hired in 2002 to oversee the implementation of dozens of reforms to the Cincinnati Police Department. He left after six weeks, however, following a highly publicized dispute with city officials over allegations of excessive spending. We’ve written before…
Music: Road to Memphis 2010 Blues Showcase
The Cincy Blues Society’s annual “Winter Blues Fest” is coming up at the end of January (two nights, three stages and 26 bands at the Southgate House, Jan. 29-30). But on Monday you can get your Blues fix via a stellar regional lineup at the Play By Play club in Silverton. And it’s for a…
Daybreakers (Review)
Sibling Australian filmmakers Michael and Peter Spierig flip Hollywood’s teen-friendly vampire trend on its head with Daybreakers, a gory sci-fi world run by a majority population of bloodsuckers. In 2019 vampires outnumber humans, and blood supplies are running out. Sam Neill’s sharp-toothed corporate villain Charles Bromley runs a monopoly that harvests blood from nude human…
Dec. 30-Jan. 5: Worst Week Ever!
WEDNESDAY DEC. 30It's a fact of life that some people driving on the road have more alcohol in their blood than is legally allowed — there just aren't enough TGI Friday’s locations for everyone to be able to walk home after a super-fun dinner. The State of Ohio in 2008 decided that, although getting one…
