Music: Rules of Engagement
Roadrunner Records Mixing full-throttle with melody, Killswitch Engage is a gateway to heavier bands. Sometimes you can tell a Metal singer from his speaking voice. The slow-moving, get-clear baritones of Pantera's Phil Anselmo always made him sound fresh from the gladiatorial arena, with a blade or a bong as his theoretical armament of choice.…
News: How Safe Are We?
Photos.com For all the talk about al-Qaeda regrouping, elevated threat levels and allegations by local law enforcement that seeks to tie almost every Arabic criminal suspect to terrorism, the fact of the matter is the only victims of terrorism in Greater Cincinnati since 9/11 so far have been Muslims. It's been 19 months since…
Film: She’s Bart Simpson, Who the Hell Are You?
20th Century Fox Ohio native Nancy Cartwright remains the iconic voice of Bart Simpson. The voice on the other end of the phone cackles. It might be the most famous laugh in all of television — if not pop culture — history. Young. Mischievous. Utterly Bart. "This is awesome," he says. "We kick butt.…
Locals Only: : The Flux Capacitors
Natalie Hager The Flux Capacitors I'm watching four suburban Cincinnati white kids on a stage playing pseudo Surf Rock wearing Indian headdresses and sporting terribly applied black makeup on their faces that was probably intended to be used by an athlete trying to keep the sun out of his or her eyes. Earlier in…
Art: Review: Saul Steinberg Illuminations
The saul Seinberg Foundation/Artists rights Society (ARS), NY "Wyoming," originally published in The New Yorker on April 12, 1969, is part of the Saul Steinberg: Illuminations exhibition at the Cincinnati Art Museum. Saul Steinberg, who seemed to draw the way the rest of us breathe — a visceral element in being alive — took…
News: Code Blue for VA
Mark Bealer A national commission on services for veterans met in Cincinnati last week, but hardly anyone showed up. A focus on the long-term future and possible unraveling of the U.S. Department Veterans Affairs (VA) dominated the discussion during a two-day meeting of the Commission on the Future for America's Veterans. While the commission…
Film: Workin’ on the Weekend
Graham Lienhart Kendall Bruns directs Liz McArthur in Pizza Infinity's latest 48 Hour Film Project offering, Hang in There Editor's Note: CityBeat asked local filmmaker Kendall Bruns to keep a diary during this year's 48 Hour Film Festival. This is his report. This was Pizza Infinity's third year participating in the 48 Hour Film…
Troublemaker’s Journal
I've spent the last few weeks on the border where I grew up, just south of San Diego in the town of Imperial Beach, adjacent to Tijuana. I joined my brother and sister in celebrating the 83rd birthday of our mother, Betty — dinner and drinks in an Irish restaurant — but most of the…
Getting involved in your community: News to use
Go Play Outside The Hamilton County Park District presents "Beyond the Backyard," a new program designed to encourage adults to explore and experience nature with the children in their lives. Adults have the opportunity to share their positive experiences and memories of the outdoors. Naturalists and Volunteers will guide adults and children in nature-related activities…
Film: Review: Rescue Dawn
MGM Steve Zahn (left) and Christian Bale star as P.O.W.s in German director Werner Herzog's Rescue Dawn. Dieter Dengler wanted to fly — nothing more, nothing less. The dream first materialized when he was a young child living through World War II air raids on his small Bavarian village. During one such raid, as…
Wizard Computers
Wizard Computers There is a difference between graffiti and art, at least according to the cops. Luckily, when spray-painting a wall, it's easy to escape the law if you already have permission from the building's owner. This is the case with a group of graffiti artists in Cincinnati who embellish the outside walls of…
Sound Advice: : Jason Isabell, Robert Randolph & the Family Band and Simon Dawes
Jason Isbell Jason Isbell Thursday · The Poison Room It's safe to say that the Drive By Truckers changed Jason Isbell's life completely. When DBT guitarist David Malone exited in 2001 following the universally acclaimed Southern Rock Opera, the Truckers hired the then 22-year-old Isbell to replace him in the midst of the band's…
Diner: Review: Boi Na Braza
Joe Lamb Boi Na Braza At a valet parking station across from Fountain Square, a personable young attendant asks where we're headed. We tell him Boi Na Braza. "Pace yourselves!" he advises knowingly. (Note: Excellent advice; in fact, a better tip than I gave in return.) Set in a large, airy space in Carew…
Tegan & Sara: The Con (Vapor/Sanctuary)
Tegan & Sara When Tegan and Sara Quin began their musical career as a duo well over a decade ago with a trio of demos and then followed up with their debut 1999 full-length and 2000 sophomore effort — Under Feet Like Ours and This Business of Art — the Canadian twin sisters wore…
Briten Up Your Weekend
One of the grooviest annual "fest" shows going, the Lite Brite Indie Pop & Film Test, returns to the Southgate House this weekend for its fourth annual event. The festival — which runs Friday, Saturday and Sunday — is the brainchild of Dan McCabe, a longtime show booker/promoter in the area (and CityBeat's promo guy),…
Estrangement in a Strange Land: Meta-Me
The abundant streaks of silver in my thinning earth-brown hair portend humanity's inexorable march to the grave as it exists alongside the near universal mortification of having to face a Walgreen's cashier to purchase a bottle of Just for Men. Moreover, the length and style of my coif adroitly alludes to society's profound failure to…
Bengals Start Training Camp Poised for a Great Season
Jerry Dowling Four years into Marvin Lewis, the Bengals are rebuilt, they've absorbed the first wave of flack after finally winning and now the air is cleaned by fire. The Bengals are right there, a true NFL contender, a better team than many people realize. It's time, starting this week, for the Bengals to…
Pendleton Arts Center expands to Newport on the Levee; is this a good thing?
Joe Lamb Urban art sprawl?: The Pendleton Art Gallery's latest location opened recently at Newport on the Levee. Urban sprawl has led to some of the saddest architecture in 100 years: strip malls, hulking drive-thru restaurants, neighborhoods begging for sidewalks. This lolling lifestyle can only be identified as quick and easy. Fast food beats…
Grace Potter and The Nocturnals: This Is Somewhere (Hollywood Records)
GRACE POTTER AND THE NOCTURNALS — THIS IS SOMEWHERE When Grace Potter writes a song, steps up to her Hammond B3 and opens her mouth to sing, she drifts through a musical wormhole and time-tunnels her way back to the days of Bonnie Raitt, when Little Feat had her back, and Janis Joplin, when…
Minnie Driver: Seastories (Zoe/Rounder)
MINNIE DRIVER — SEASTORIES By a show of hands, how many people suspected that Minnie Driver's deliciously backhanded role as a small-town disc jockey in 1997's Grosse Pointe Blank was a small reflection of her own experience as a lifelong devoted musician? Anybody? Truth be told — her modest buzz on U.K. and indie…
Someone Please Kill the Cover Band
Everything's gone covers-crazy next month with a caravan of weird and wonderful salutes, sure to prick up ears with a healthy "huh?" Luna covering Paula Abdul? Superchunk bowing down to Destiny's Child? Or Jim O'Rourke shaking out some Spice Girls? Yes, all that and a dozen more are due from Engine Room Recordings' upcoming Guilt…
Living Out Loud: : Todd’s From E-Town
This kid with a Mohawk haircut starts talking to me as I'm standing outside Sophia's Restaurant on Main Street downtown finishing a cigarette. I'm not paying much attention to him as it's early morning and I'm still trying to wake up — but I think I'm friendly enough as I put out my smoke and…
Janitors Fight Back Against Union Busting
Joe Lamb Dena Smith and her children epitomize the union struggle. As a union that represents Greater Cincinnati's janitors prepares to hold negotiation sessions July 25-26 with cleaning companies, it filed federal charges this week against the city's three largest cleaning contractors, alleging unfair labor practices. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which is…
Music: Sharper Image
The Sharp Things The Sharp Things' main instigator, Perry Serpa, moved from Guitar Rock to orchestral indie Pop after a psychic told him she saw violins in his future. The Sharp Things' frontman Perry Serpa knows the tactics required to get a band noticed. A noted New York City publicist for many years for…
Cintas Is Proud of Its Success
In response to Kevin Osborne's article "Dirty Laundry" (issue of July 18), he notes that Cintas "is lauded as a hometown model of success." We're proud of our success and work hard to earn this trust every day. That's not to say that we haven't faced our challenges. Employee safety is a top priority, and…
Where to Begin
Many people have an interest in holistic healing and spiritual growth but are uncertain how to proceed. Their problems seem overwhelming, or they're simply too bogged down with responsibilities to take action. Sometimes it's easier to stay in the comfort zone of stagnant negativity rather than explore the unknown possibilities of a positive, balanced, happy…
A Sleeping Country
Sandy Underwood Neva Rae Powers, shown here in ETC's CEA-nominated Souvenir, will reprise her role for a run in Austria. The Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park this week put in place the final production of its 2007-08 season when it announced the Mickey Kaplan New Play Prize, A SLEEPING COUNTRY by MELANIE MARNICH, to…
Cover Story: Going the Distance
Joe Lamb 500 Miles to Memphis I first met Ryan Malott, mastermind and sole original member of the local "Country/Punk" band 500 Miles to Memphis, four years ago. The band, a trio at the time, was fresh out of high school. Malott was 19. He contacted me out of the blue about his band's…
All Lit Up: : Book Reviews
HISHAM MATAR — IN THE COUNTRY OF MEN HISHAM MATAR — IN THE COUNTRY OF MEN (THE DIAL PRESS) With his debut novel, In the Country of Men, Hisham Matar transports the reader with a violent thud back to the Libya of his youth; the Libya of Muammar al-Gaddafi, the benevolent leader and the…
Take a Little Trip over the Rhine for Lunch
Cincinnati's German immigrants used to make daily treks across the Miami and Erie Canal from their homes in Over-the-Rhine into downtown. Today, as restuarants and condo developments breathe new life into OTR, the trek across the Rhine (Central Parkway) is shifting in direction. And Enzo's (1106 Race St., Over-the-Rhine, 513-579-1106) is helping this shift along.…
Lookwhos: Look Who’s Eating: Cristian Pietoso
Graham Lienhart Cristian Pietoso Cristian Pietoso and his dad, Nicola, graduated from the same school — the Culinary Institute of Florence (Italy) — about 30 years apart. So it wasn't much of a stretch when he agreed to come to America and take over the kitchen of his father's eponymous restaurant. With his father's…
