Jul 20-27, 2016
The Letterpress Renaissance: A once obsolete technology is helping define the future of printing
Morning News: DNC day two, Parks Board audit uncovers lack of accountability, Hamilton County residents continue pipeline fight
Good morning all. Here’s your news today. Let’s talk Democratic National Convention day two, shall we? Yesterday, delegates officially voted Hillary Clinton the party’s nominee for president, which means I won’t have to type the word “presumptive” for like, almost four more years. Sanders supporters were rowdy still, but probably less rowdy than the convention’s…
AYE Music & Art Fest Takes Over Northside
The Adjust Your Eyes Music & Art Festival has grown and shape-shifted since it was founded in 2006 as a way for local label Grasshopper Juice Records to showcase the work of area artists and raise money for various charities and organizations. The festival has picked a different beneficiary of proceeds and donations each year…
Minimum Gauge: Trump loads up convention soundtrack with artists who want nothing to do with him
HOT: Unconventional Soundtrack Donald Trump’s campaign has been frequently met with requests from musicians to stop using their music during rallies. But for the Republican National Convention’s soundtrack, the GOP kept on message by offending a broad cross-section of performers, ignoring previous requests from Queen and The Rolling Stones, and causing Earth, Wind & Fire…
Concerts and Clubs Calendar (July 27-Aug. 2)
Wednesday 27 Arnold’s Bar and Grill – Todd Hepburn. 7 p.m. Blues/Jazz/Various. Free. * Esquire Theatre – Live ’n’ Local featuring Ricky Nye and Katie Laur. 7 p.m. Blues/Roots/Various. $5. Fountain Square – Reggae Wednesdays with Dub Flex. 7 p.m. Reggae. Free. The Greenwich – Bianca Graham presents Dynamo. 8 p.m. R&B/Funk/Jazz. $7. MOTR Pub…
Onstage at the Contemporary American Theater Festival
Sometimes you find great theater in unexpected locations. Such was the case with my recent visit to Shepherdstown, W. Va., for the Contemporary American Theater Festival. I learned about this annual event — now in its 26th year — three years ago when the American Theatre Critics Association held its annual conference there to attend…
Morning News: DNC gets wild, Teamsters endorse Portman, Ohio prison spending growing 166 percent faster than ed funding
Good morning all. Things are cray today so let’s just dive right in, shall we? Now, normally we’d start with some local stuff and then get around to national news, but since we devoted days and days to the Republican National Convention (because it was in Ohio, but yeah), it seems only fair to chronicle…
Noon News: Downtown garage on the way out; activists push for $15 minimum wage in Cincy; chaos at the DNC
Hey hey all. I’m still a little sluggish after spending all week in Cleveland, so you’re getting a noon news update today. Here ya go. Are you a historic parking garage preservationist? If so, this may be a dark day for you. Long-standing Pogues’ Garage on the corner of Fourth and Race Streets will shut…
FCC’s Privacy Proposal Doesn’t Address ‘Big Data’ Problem
Jeffrey Layne Blevins, Ph.D., is an associate professor and head of the Journalism Department at the University of Cincinnati where he teaches media law and ethics. He previously served as a federal grant reviewer for the Broadband Technologies Opportunity Program administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce and National Telecommunications and Information Administration. The comment…
Previously Self-Funded Trump Moves into Fundraising Mode
Now that he has mostly self-banked his way into becoming the Republican Party’s presidential nominee, Donald Trump is turning into every other politician and holding out his palm for cash. The latest numbers from the Federal Election Commission reveal what the Donald is up against. As of June 30, Trump had raised $37 million in…
Emotion is a disease in the cold world of ‘Equals’
What it is about the idea that in future dystopian societies, people tend toward sterility and the removal of emotion? Such a question confounded me during much of the runtime of Equals, the latest film from Drake Doremus, who travels down remote indie frames. His breakout release, Like Crazy, which featured the late Anton Yelchin…
Your Weekend To Do List (July 22-24)
FRIDAY 22 ATTRACTION: HIPPO COVE AT THE CINCINNATI ZOO The Cincinnati Zoo welcomes the newest residents to their Africa exhibit, Nile hippos Henry, a 34-year-old male from Dickerson Park Zoo, and Bibi, a 17-year-old female from the St. Louis Zoo. The world-class Hippo Cove and its 70,000-gallon pool open Thursday morning, allowing visitors to get…
Martin Luther & The Kings Reunite for Show, Live Recording
In many ways, Martin Luther and the Kings’ final show went exactly how their fans expected. The Punk trio of vocalist/guitarist “Hellcat” Matt Smith, bassist Aaron “Bogie” Bogren, and drummer Jimmy “Jims” Snowden ended the 2014 Ironfest with a loud, ridiculous and whiskey-fueled ode to nearly a decade of insanity. Cues were missed, lyrics were…
Stage Door: The Beatles rekindled, great works abridged and a whole lot of musicals
Need some entertainment to help you forget the summer heat? Here are some thoughts. It’s not exactly theater, but it’s onstage, so I’m reminding you that tonight “the British are coming!” The Mersey Beatles, a band of musicians all born in Liverpool, England (that’s the town in England where The Beatles originated) are in Cincinnati…
‘Sunset Song’ can be simultaneously harsh and beautiful
Veteran English director Terence Davies has long dreamed of bringing Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s 1932 novel Sunset Song to the screen. The book, which is the first part of A Scots Quair trilogy, is an iconic touchstone of Scottish culture, a masterful weaving of personal and public history. Now, after years of trying, Davies has his…
RNC Day Four: The end has come. Oh, and also, the convention is over.
Well, friends, here we are. We’ve reached the end. The finale. The terminus. Also, on a related note, the 2016 Republican National Convention ended yesterday. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump gave a long, rousing and very factually thorny acceptance speech, which we'll get to in a minute. But first, let's take one last visit to…
LISTEN: Mad Anthony’s “Bad Apples” featuring Shane Johnson
Cincinnati trio Mad Anthony is now 21-songs deep into its Mad Anthology project, for which the group is releasing a song a week for an entire year, with today’s release of “Bad Apples.” (Check out our cover story about the group here for more on the project.) The Mad Anthology songs released so far have…
Stockholm Syndrome on the Campaign Trail
I’ve always been sorry for reporters on the campaign trails. They hear the same or similar speeches daily and have to find something — anything — to write out from one town after another. Meanwhile, as generations of politics reporters bemoaned, they’ll wonder if their laundry ever will catch up with them. Donald Trump is…
Feds join suit over Ohio voter registration purge
The groups trying to undo the state’s purge of tens of thousands of Ohioans from voter rolls because of failing to vote or confirm home addresses have a powerful new ally in their court fight — the U.S. Justice Department. The legal battle erupted in April when the Ohio A. Philip Randolph Institute and the…
RNC Day Three: Everyone is arguing with everyone and it is fascinating
Welcome one and all! We’ve made it almost to the end of the Republican National Convention, and that in and of itself is an accomplishment. Congratulations. Just one more day and we can all go back to pretending like the world as we know it isn’t ending, and Cleveland can go back to doing whatever…
When Ken Ham asked Bill Nye to Be Friends
At the Ark Encounter, when Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis asked Bill Nye the Science Guy if they could be friends, the Science Guy respectfully said “No.” It was perhaps the most surreal moment so far at the newly opened Ark Encounter, which has earned attention from media across the globe. Ironically, there was…
Finally! Recognition for ‘Bravolebrities’
The nominees are in. The votes have been tallied. It’s almost time for awards. No, not the Emmys — though those noms were announced last week. It’s time for The Bravos (10 p.m. Wednesday, Bravo), and I’m not talking about Game of Thrones’ Free City in Westeros (which is spelled Braavos); I’m talking the home…
Choices are anything but simple in ‘Dheepan’
Choice often seems such a simple matter-of-fact thing. Back in 1991, the Hip Hop group Black Sheep summed it up like this on their song “The Choice is Yours”: “You can get with this, or you can get with that.” But in Dheepan, the 2015 Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or-winning release, French writer-director Jacques Audiard…
When Pigs Fly: A cynical Cincinnati card game
In 100 years, what aspect of current Cincinnati life might people want to remember with a monument? Could it be… Pop idols 98 Degrees? The endless debate on whether or not the city should have built its streetcar? The equally endless debate on whether Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame despite being banned…
HudsonJones Gallery opens in Camp Washington
In late 2014, Angela Jones was visiting Camp Washington when she ran into property owner/arts advocate Fred Lane, who invited her to check out the building at the corner of Colerain Avenue and Alfred Street he’d recently purchased. Upon seeing the rear-corner unit, Jones immediately recognized the location’s potential as an art gallery. And she…
Whatever happened to actress Marni Penning?
Marni Penning became a familiar performer for Cincinnatians in love with classic theater starting in 1994 when the Fahrenheit Theatre Company began producing shows. I first saw her onstage at Gabriel’s Corner (in a church’s basement space at Sycamore and Liberty streets in Over-the-Rhine) in a production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. I was immediately struck…
Three creatives turn a vintage trailer into a hip mobile art gallery
This art space is small, but definitely not stuffy. POPP=D ART, a former pop-up gallery that used a vacant Corryville storefront to exhibit art, is now a mini mobile gallery that accommodates only about five people at a time, yet no one complained during its debut last month in Washington Park. As visitors filed through,…
Japp’s is serious about Tiki drinks
What makes a great Tiki drink? “If you close your eyes and take a sip, it should taste like a witch doctor gave it to you.” That’s according to Japp’s bartender Jeremy Harrison, the man in charge of coordinating the Over-the-Rhine bar’s monthly Tiki Nights, an homage to authentic Caribbean/Polynesian libations. The drink should be…
Maplewood Kitchen and Bar brings creative California-style cuisine to downtown
Sandwiched between Americano Burger Bar and Mita’s in the 84.51° building downtown, Thunderdome Restaurant Group’s latest restaurant, the upscale “California-style” Maplewood Kitchen and Bar, seems to be the inverse of their other local eateries — The Eagle OTR, Currito, Bakersfield and Krueger’s Tavern. Whereas The Eagle is all about fried chicken and cheat-day sides, and…
Sound Advice: Dinosaur Jr. (July 24)
Dinosaur Jr.’s original lineup of ace guitar slinger/singer J Mascis, bassist Lou Barlow and drummer Murph recorded three albums in the mid-1980s, cresting with ’87’s You’re Living All Over Me, a beautifully shambolic haze of guitars, jagged rhythms and weary, high-lonesome vocals. Alas, the original band’s run as one of Indie Rock’s trailblazing acts wasn’t…
Sound Advice: The Paper Kites (July 22)
When I was a wide-eyed teenager (well, fully-dilated, let’s say that), I heard one of the greatest Rock songs I’d ever experienced on the radio, a slamming Pub Rock anthem called “Hi Honey Ho” by a completely unknown band named Daddy Cool. Soon after, I happened upon a mention of the band in an issue…
Sound Advice: Joan Jett & The Blackhearts with Heart and Cheap Trick (July 22)
Joan Jett was my favorite Rock star — and my second favorite famous person after Cincinnati Reds pitcher Mario Soto — when I was a kid. I listened to side one of I Love Rock N’ Roll on my crappy little box turntable almost every day — often multiple times a day — for more…
Sound Advice: Robert DeLong with Playfully Yours (July 22)
If you saw the multitudes gathered for Robert DeLong’s Cincinnati appearances at consecutive Bunbury Music Festivals in 2013 and 2014, you’d understand why he makes regular stops in Cincinnati. The DJ/multi-instrumentalist has amassed a fervent fan base here, and they turn out in droves to witness his compelling stage presentation; DeLong’s Bunbury debut drew an…
Former local musicians return for weekend shows
Shane Johnson, who spent several years as part of Greater Cincinnati’s music scene with top-notch Punk/Post Punk bands like NoGood Heroes and Caterpillar Tracks, is now based in Columbia, Mo., but this week he’ll be bringing his fiery current group, New Tongues, back to town. The trio (check out its powerful latest release, the four-song…
A chance meeting led to the formation of duo Diet Cig, one of Indie Rock’s buzziest bands
The story of how Diet Cig clattered into existence sounds like a pitch for a musical reimagining of The Odd Couple. Indie Rock band Earl Boykins was playing a house show in New Paltz, N.Y. at the home of a friend of budding guitarist/songwriter Alex Luciano.Desperate for a smoke, Luciano interrupted the band’s set to…
What a Week! July 13-19
WEDNESDAY, JULY 13 Cincinnati chili regularly takes a beating in the public eye. We get it: It’s runny. It boasts an untraditional flavor. It’s a gut-busting greasy meal that looks like poop. We’ve heard it all before. So it’s up to Cincy natives to defend the city’s unofficial dish, and that’s just what WWE world…
Who Is Choosing to Be a Cop Today?
EDITOR’S NOTE: CityBeat has invited three local activists to write monthly columns on pressing issues facing Cincinnati. Derek Bauman is a public transit and urbanism activist and also a suburban Cincinnati police officer. His column will appear in CityBeat the third week of each month. “Every societal failure, we put it off on the cops…
The Letterpress Renaissance: A once-obsolete technology is helping define the future of printing
The world changed forever when Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in the mid-15th century. Moveable type ushered in a new marketplace of ideas, fostering literacy, spreading news and democratizing the way people obtained information. If asked what the most revolutionary innovation of the second millennium was, you’d be hard-pressed — no pun intended —…
RNC Day Two: Fun, Sun and Tons of Guns
CLEVELAND – Hello all. Welcome to installment no. 2 of CityBeat’s dispatches from the land of Cleves, also known as “Did That Really Just Happen: The Blog Post” or “RNC 2016: Fun, Sun and Tons of Guns.” First off, yes, that really did just happen: Donald Trump is the legit, non-presumptive Republican nominee for president.…
