Jul 26 – Aug 2, 2017
Allies for Alleys: Local organization reclaims, celebrates and activates urban passageways for pedestrians
Shop Talk: Odd Little Me
The first time Mo Herbe started making and selling shirts with her art on them was in eighth grade. At the time, she referred to her small business as “Odd Little Me.” It wasn’t until recently — after shaping her own abstract art style — that the name seemed to fit. Her website, which launches…
Morning News: Tensing seeks job back; downtown Library’s plans to sell one of its downtown buildings move forward; insurers fill ACA gaps in 19 Ohio countes
Hello Cincy. Let’s go straight to the news today. Could former University of Cincinnati police officer Ray Tensing get his job back? After he was indicted on murder and manslaughter charges for the July 19, 2015 shooting death of unarmed motorist Sam DuBose, UC fired Tensing. The union that represents police in Ohio immediately filed…
Morning News: Hudepohl smokestack can’t be saved, Port says; Fairfield councilmember votes to bar pot, puts in pot growing application; how ECOT got its start
Hello all. Did you enjoy the improbably perfect weather this weekend? I’d like to be out enjoying it right now, but it’s Monday and we have news to talk about. So let’s do that. Last year, Cincinnati City Council made the Queen City the first in the nation to ban controversial, religiously based conversion therapy…
Interns at Lunch: Quan Hapa
Quan Hapa brings an Asian street food to the streets of Cincinnati. Following the return of chef Mapi De Veyra, it's getting a Filipino refocus (read more here). The Over-the-Rhine establishment just introduced five new items: Sichuan 5-Way, Chicken Katsu, Bo Luc Lac, Mushroom Ramen and Crispy Pata. The dishes feature chicken, beef, noodles and…
Morning News: What’s wrong with Nippert, Portune asks; who dies from opiate overdoses?; last-minute drama as Obamacare repeal fails
Happy Friday Cincinnati. We’ve almost made it to the weekend. One thing standing in our way: lots of news. Let’s go ahead and overcome that obstacle, shall we? There’s still a lot of contention around FC Cincinnati’s potential ask for $100 million in taxpayer money to fund a dedicated soccer stadium. The team says that…
Your Weekend To Do List (July 28-30)
FRIDAY 28 COMEDY: TYRONE HAWKINS “I’m getting back in the saddle, as they say,” says comedian Tyrone Hawkins. This past December, Hawkins’ son passed away. “I never stopped going on stage. It was very therapeutic,” he says. “I’m good at compartmentalizing. I think I went on stage a couple of days later and kept on…
Stage Door: Maid Marian and the Merry Wives
We’re still in a bit of a low summer ebb for theater here in Cincinnati. (If you’re willing to feast elsewhere, you should read my CityBeat feature about the Stratford Festival in Ontario, Canada.) But there are choices available for shows to see this weekend. How about the local debut of Adam Szymkowicz’s Marian: The True…
Ohio’s U.S. attorney-in-waiting
As the only known candidate to become the U.S. Justice Department’s top lawyer in the southern half of Ohio, Greg Hartmann has a lot going for him. Hartmann, a former assistant Hamilton County prosecutor, Board of County Commission member and clerk of courts, is first and foremost a Republican, and the path toward becoming U.S.…
Sports in Moderation
Hello, CityBeat World. You are a good world, a progressive part of Greater Cincinnati with a voracious appetite for arts, entertainment, interesting food… the works for a vibrant city. You celebrate diversity among your fellow citizens, knowing that embracing all is the way to avoid becoming Pleasantville. And who am I? I’m your new, bi-weekly sports columnist,…
Maudie’s Sweet Charm
Is there another actor working today with a more sweet and innocent charm than Sally Hawkins? She burst on the scene as the character Poppy in Mike Leigh’s 2008 film Happy-Go-Lucky, about an impossibly cheerful and exuberantly colorful schoolteacher whose naïve optimism confounded anyone and everyone who came into contact with her, including audiences. In the…
Sound Advice: Hans Zimmer (Aug. 3)
Before movie composer Hans Zimmer was winning Grammys and an Oscar for his film-score work, he was a working musician. The German-born/Los Angeles-based artist played keyboards with British Hard Rock band Krakatoa before moving to The Buggles (featuring future Yes and Asia members Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes), then Italian New Wave outfit Krisma, Helden…
Sound Advice: Tegan and Sara with Japanese Breakfast (Aug. 2)
It hardly seems possible that we're just two years away from the 20th anniversary of Tegan and Sara's debut album, 1999's Under Feet Like Ours, but it's likely no surprise to them. The Canadian Quin sisters clearly had the long game in mind from their late ’90s start in Calgary, tooling their act to accommodate…
Morning News: City, county reach MSD deal; local trans advocates protest Trump tweets; Hamilton County to get three medicinal pot dispensaries
Happy rainy Thursday, all. Let’s talk news. The city of Cincinnati and Hamilton County have come to a court-mediated agreement on running the region’s Metropolitan Sewer District. County Commissioners and city officials announced a deal yesterday that would create a five-member oversight board with members appointed by both governments. The county would appoint three members…
What a Week! July 19-25
WEDNESDAY, JULY 19 Apple is dropping a slew of new emojis later this year. A preview of the next round of high-tech hieroglyphics was revealed early this week in celebration of World Emoji Day (dear god why). Soon you’ll be able to text emojis like a person meditating in lotus pose, a breastfeeding woman and…
TV Rewind: ‘The Sopranos’ Still Hits High Notes
While I typically cover new and current shows in this column, I will occasionally revisit some programs from the past — series that have been on my watch list for years, but I’m just now getting around to. First up: The Sopranos, which aired on HBO for six seasons from 1999 to 2007 (now available on…
Haunting Image Defines ‘A Ghost Story’
Some films create a sense of wonder at the spectacle on display, the lavish beauty of the images and the sense of engagement with the characters. They can spark questions as to how great beauty can exist in the world. Or, what might have shaped the characters we see on the screen and where could…
Van Ackerman returns to ‘Drowsy Chaperone’
A role called “Man in Chair” might initially seem to be a peripheral character in a show, almost a generic piece of scenery. So it could come as a surprise that an actor would eagerly take on the part not once but twice. But it might be the role of a lifetime for Van Ackerman.…
Prayer Flags for a Better City
A white cloth features the image of a single brick house, its painted façade waving whenever the wind catches it. The work — a prayer flag — is a depiction of an isolated residence in Camp Washington. That lonely building is a symbol of hoped-for change in the neighborhood, as are the other cloths that…
PAR-Projects has above-par art events
Based on my experiences seeing art there, PAR-Projects could be called Par Excellence. I haven’t seen a lot of shows at its Northside home — the art organization hasn’t had a lot of shows there since opening to the public last year at 1662 Hoffner St. — but what I have seen I can’t stop…
Artisan and domestic-focused cheese shop The Rhined opens a brick and mortar near Findlay Market
Cheese is having a moment. It feels silly to say that about a product that’s arguably been around since humans began cohabitating with other milk-producing mammals but in the age of the internet, Buzzfeed’s Tasty videos, slow-mo cheese-goo food porn and the millennial-favorite cheese board, cheese really and truly is a star. That’s why it’s…
Themed Pub Crawls!
July and August must be the months for pub crawls, because the city has quite a few of them planned. On Saturday, wear your best (worst?) ’80s and ’90s attire for The Decades Crawl in Over-the-Rhine. With your $15 ticket, you get a neon fanny pack and cocktail and beer specials at 16-Bit, MOTR (a $3 Malibu…
Hard-touring Philadelphia rockers Mannequin Pussy leave it all on the stage every night
Mannequin Pussy’s live shows are like exorcisms. Frontwoman Marisa Dabice is a feral presence, her powerful vocals emitted with the kind of intensity that would seem impossible to replicate on a consistent basis. Yet the Philadelphia band — which also includes guitarist Thanasi Paul, drummer Kaleen Reading and bassist Colins “Bear” Regisford — has toured…
Sound Advice: The Menzingers with The Sidekicks and A.M. Nice (July 27)
The Menzingers have many impressive bullet points on their résumé, including a consistent string of great reviews for their body of work over the past 11 years and the ability to maintain the same lineup for the band’s entire history. The latter clearly speaks to The Menzingers’ band-of-brothers Punk mentality and the unbreakable personal bond…
Sound Advice: The Band of Heathens with The Perfect Children and Michael Moeller (July 28)
Although The Band of Heathens has been together for 12 years, the Austin, Texas quintet’s seeds were sown even earlier when the founding trio — Colin Brooks, Ed Jurdi and Gordy Quist — were working as solo artists in the flourishing Austin scene. The musicians were fixtures at the now defunct Momo’s on Sixth Street,…
Sound Advice: Animal Collective with Aaron Dilloway (July 30)
When is a band not a band? Perhaps it’s when a loosely affiliated set of musicians assemble as a whole or in random combinations of its individual members, and in those various permutations create sounds that defy accepted genre categorization. Perhaps it’s when the aggregation’s members operate under pseudonyms and build an epic discography that…
Ohio’s Addictive Execution Drug
Last year as the summer reached its apex, Gov. John Kasich stood at the Columbus fairgrounds among revelers in shorts and sunglasses to kick off the Ohio State Fair. It’s a traditional duty for the governor, and one Kasich undertook with zeal. He had some chocolate ice cream, according to media reports, and marveled when…
