Music: Frankly, Genius
Special Ops Media On the current "Zappa Plays Zappa" tribute tour, son Dweezil Zappa (pictured) gets to jam with his pops, who appears via synched up archival video footage. Frank Zappa left behind a complex and precious legacy that remains, ironically, a relatively unknown American treasure. Over the course of a career that spanned…
News: Janitors Authorize Strike
Joe Lamb Geraldine Gibson and Tim Finucan (facing camera) march toward the Fifth Third Building to appeal for better treatment of its janitorial staff. Several organizers were arrested in the building. Next week could be make or break time for Greater Cincinnati's burgeoning "Justice for Janitors" movement to get better wages and benefits for…
Sound Advice: : Bowling for Soup, Old 97s and Roger Clyne
The Old 97s Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers with Patrick Sweany Sunday · Southgate House Nearly a decade and a half ago, Roger Clyne co-founded The Refreshments, one of the all-time great smartass Rock bands. The Tempe, Ariz., quartet had tasted indie success with their debut Wheelie, and followed up with a major label…
News: Jean Schmidt’s War
Joe Lamb Time to end the war: Ben Elmgren, an organizer with the Iraq Summer Campaign, speaks to volunteers at the Hyde Park Branch Library. U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-Miami Township) is the target of a campaign by Americans Against Escalation in Iraq (AAEI), which is pressuring her to re-evaluate her stance on the…
Onstage: Review: Greater Tuna
Rich Sofranko Jeff Sanders and Joshua Neth Greater Tuna, the quick-change comedy in which two men portray 20 people from “the third smallest town in Texas,” might seem a surprising choice by Cincinnati Shakespeare Company (CSC). But it’s actually become a classic: Since its original staging in 1982, it’s been one of the most frequently…
‘Beat’ it with The Trojan Rabbit
Local Soul/Rock quartet The Trojan Rabbit have spawned a new full-length CD, Beat to Hell, and this Friday they're having a party to celebrate. The release show takes place at Covington's Mad Hatter and also features performances by the band's pals, patientZero and Buckra. Doors for the all-ages shindig/concert open at 8 p.m.; cover is…
Cincinnati Entertainment Awards 2007
Ryan Kurtz ETC's Opus is nominated both for Best Premiere and Outstanding Play in the 2007 CEAs. For 11 years, CityBeat has sponsored the CINCINNATI ENTERTAINMENT AWARDS. I'm occasionally asked how nominations are chosen, with some people wondering if I just pick my favorites. The answer is an emphatic "no." The process is simple…
Diner: Review: Thai Namtip
Joe Lamb Thai Namtip The Setting: A comfortably shabby strip mall in the exotic locale of Monfort Heights, near the heart of Cincinnati's West Side. The Cast: Michelle Yi, alumnus of CBS' Survivor: Fiji and UC's Design, Art, Architecture and Planning program; your intrepid dining writer, me; Tyler, a tech guru and fashion photographer…
Spoon: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Merge Records)
SPOON That's five "Ga's," clearly a metaphor for … well, I have no freakin' idea what the title means. A rebirth? A deeper exploration of Dadaism? They asked a toddler to pick the name? Spoon has made some of the most delicious American Indie Rock over the past decade, even before they settled into…
Film: Review: Hairspray
New Line Cinema John Travolta and Nikki Blonsky star in Hairspray, an adaptation of the Broadway musical that was in turn based on John Waters' 1988 film. Good spirits, great songs and casting smarts — mixing relaxed Hollywood veterans who love the material with young newcomers full of energy — make Hairspray a summer…
Art: Courbet in Cincinnati
CAM Gustave Courbet's "Sunset, Vevey, Switzerland," has been part of the Cincinnati Art Museum's collection since 1887. It's a small painting, and not a famous one, but Gustave Courbet's "Sunset, Vevey, Switzerland," is something of a conquering hero at the Cincinnati Art Museum. It's on display in a gallery with prestigious Impressionist art next…
Who Says Cincinnati Can’t Have an NBA Team?
Jerry Dowling Andy Furman is on another letter-writing campaign, banging the drum to bring an NBA team into Cincinnati. If you can't have an NBA team, having a drum banger is the next best thing. We shouldn't say Furman is working behind the scenes, as the letters haven't exactly been kept under wraps. A…
The Woman in the Window (MGM)
THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW 1944, Not Rated The German-filmed Metropolis, M and Mabuse trifecta forever ensures monocled director Fritz Lang's place in history, but his later work in Hollywood is just as vital, if not more so. An expatriate who fled his Nazi-infected homeland for the U.S., Lang brought with him the mastery…
The Game of ‘Top That Woe’
When my friend Christine was driving her sister to radiation treatments three times a week, she spent a lot of time waiting in a room with others experiencing serious illness either first- or second-hand. Week after week, she told me, there was a sort of game that was played out by some in the room,…
Fresh CD reviews of music made by Greater Cincinnati artists
BACKSEAT VIRTUE: Backseat Virtue I try hard not to jump to female singer comparisons when reviewing something by a female singer ('cause I'm non-sexist like that), but I spent the first two listens of Cincy foursome Backseat Virtue's debut CD trying to "place the voice." When I finally figured out it was Belinda Carlisle (early…
Teddy Thompson: Upfront & Down Low (Verve)
TEDDY THOMPSON The six-year gap between Teddy Thompson's first two albums was more a result of scheduling than deliberation. In that span, Thompson coaxed his Folk legend mother, Linda Thompson, into the studio after a 17-year hiatus and co-wrote and co-produced the results, toured with his iconic Folk father Richard Thompson and recorded not…
Daddy Can Read, Too
A few weeks ago my wife and I had a couple of friends over for dinner. The weeknight dinner format is one that my wife and two of her friends with kids have developed into a routine. Tuesday nights, regardless of the season, they take turns gathering at one home or another or pick a…
Berding Campaign in Trouble
The Weinstein Company Michael Moore (L) and a doctor in a scene from Sicko: Activists hope the film builds momentum for universal health coverage. The status of two people who helped Cincinnati City Councilman Jeff Berding win his hard-fought endorsement from the Democratic Party in his re-election campaign has changed, underscoring the difficult time…
City Animals and Country Animals
I was somewhat amused by your portrayal of the Swolsky family ("The Real Green Acres," issue of June 27). As the son of a family transplanted from Queens to rural Clermont County, I was able to empathize on several accounts with the family's experience. There are certain aspects of agricultural communities which are very different…
The Italian (Sony)
THE ITALIAN 2006, Rated PG-13 Foreign-language films about waifs tend to be sweet, sentimental even — Kolya and Central Station are prime examples.So the Russian film The Italian is a refreshing surprise, to a point. Kolya Spiridonov plays a 6-year-old boy at a remote, ramshackle orphanage who is desired for adoption by an Italian…
Cover Story: Dirty Laundry
Woodrow J. Hinton Dirty Laundry Almost everyone who knew Eleazar Torres-Gomez described him as a hard-working, honest man. Hoping for a better life for his wife and two sons, Gomez and his family legally emigrated from Mexico to the United States in 1987. First moving to Illinois before eventually settling in Oklahoma, Gomez held…
Living Out Loud: : Laundry, Groceries and $20 Hookers
Downtown living is fine. Despite some surprises with electrical problems and miscellaneous other shit at the beginning of my move, I can't complain too much about my living space. If I had an apartment like this in New York City, it would probably cost me about four times as much as what I'm paying here…
Interpol: Our Love to Admire (Capitol)
INTERPOL I still crack up when I remember an interview CityBeat's Jason Gargano did with Interpol drummer Sam Fogarino around the time the band's debut masterwork, Turn on the Bright Lights, was riding high. The drummer said the band was already sick of the comparisons they were getting, most notably the one that linked…
Onstage: Review: The Fantasticks
A lovely musical parable called The Fantasticks premiered Off-Broadway in 1960 and was onstage for 42 years, offering 17,162 performances, by far the longest-running musical of all time. It's a charming, simply told fable about young love and idealism and how those feelings must be tempered and deepened by judgment and understanding. It's laced with…
Tiny Vipers: Hands Across the Void (Sub Pop)
TINY VIPERS In 2003, Jesy Fortino relocated from Oakland to Seattle, bringing with her a songbook of darkly demented original Folk material better suited to a Goth festival than a hootenanny, and began making her reputation on the city's coffeehouse/bookstore circuit. Fortino eventually committed some of her songs to a trio of homemade CD-Rs…
Summer’s Freedom
Now that I have grown up enough to call myself a mom, I find myself dropping my own children off at summer camp each morning and remembering my own summer days. As a child, I would happily run to the bleachers for morning assembly. My butt would stick to the hot bleachers while the camp…
Avenue Montaigne (ThinkFilm)
AVENUE MONTAIGNE 2006, Rated G Avenue Montaigne is one of Paris' most luxurious stretches, where the uber-rich, uber-talented and uber-beautiful live, work and play. Director Daniele Thompson sets her eponymous, Cesar-nominated comedy in this world, following a cross-section of its denizens through their misanthropic lives. A young, naive yet ambitious provincial-girl attempting to work…
Main Event: Divertissement: Everyday Dancers’ Stories
DIVERTISSEMENT: EVERYDAY DANCERS' STORIES Daydream Believers For most of us, ballet brings to mind a youthful fantasy world: tutus, satin pointe shoes, fairy tales. For the five middle-aged women in Ed Lippman's documentary, DIVERTISSEMENT: EVERYDAY DANCERS' STORIES, ballet means all that and more. These spirited amateur dancers, ranging from ages 40 to 61, have…
The Best of Bravestarr (BCI)
THE BEST OF BRAVESTARR 1987, Unrated This was the last series ever produced by Filmation Studios (the creators of Star Trek: The Animated Series, The New Adventures of Superman, He-Man and She-Ra), and ran in syndication from 1987-1989. Shot in Filmation's trademark "limited animation" style, the show followed the adventures of Marshall Bravestarr and…
Summer of Chemo
When my friend had her first baby, another friend and I took over in the kitchen. We spent a happy, frenzied day filling her freezer with turkey chili, roasted red pepper lasagna and beef stew, scrawling names and dates on plastic containers with Sharpies. It was our baby shower gift. The best of all the…
Plum Street/Wise Temple
Geoff Raker Plum Street Wise Temple To me, one of the most striking aspects of Cincinnati's seven hills are the tiny steeples that dot nearly every peak, their numerous spires serving as a constant reminder that this is a blessed town. Many such houses of worship are similar not only in style (Gothic revival…
Music: Social Security
Christine Marie Mike Ness has helped Social Distortion remain vital for almost 30 years. With music such a commodity these days, it's no surprise that former bands, once popular, are now reuniting in waves. Why not sharpen your chops, comb over the gray hair and hit the lucrative tour circuit again? That's why it's…
Getting involved in your community: News to use
Protect Kids from Enlistment Help young men and women learn the truth about the war in Iraq so they can resist the temptation to enlist in the U.S. military. The Before You Enlist Campaign meets from 6-7 p.m. July 18 at the Peaslee Neighborhood Center, 214 E. 14th St. in Over-the-Rhine. For more information, call…
