Fashion Inspiration: Crystal City
As a young girl, I had a deep fascination with crystals, rocks and stones. So much to the point that I had quite the rock collection (I know Maija did too). I recall some of my favorites from my rock collection being amethyst, desert rose and fools gold. I think I may have even found a…
Music: Tool
Lollapalooza 1993 at Deer Creek near Indianapolis. Tool is getting its first major exposure. As we survey the crowd, someone says, “We’re Tool,” a guitar chord jagged enough to saw lumber blows out of the amps and there’s a pair of Doc Martens right under my nose. We are the mosh pit. We step back…
Comedy: Kevin Shea
Adopted from Korea, Kevin Shea felt compelled to develop a sense of humor as a kid, especially growing up in Bethlehem, Pa. “I wasn’t like I was going to be hung by a noose or anything,” he insists, “but…it’s very different being the only Asian kid in an all white elementary school.” He wasn’t exactly…
Art: Seeing Nature at the Parkside Cafe
Photographer Lisa Britton has been recording every day of her almost-five-year-old daughter Angela’s short life. She often concentrates on Angela’s exploration of the natural world and has chosen works with that theme for Seeing Nature, her exhibition of color photographs on display at Parkside Café in Walnut Hills. “Even before Angela was born I was…
Avoiding the Appearance of Bias, Writing for the Web and Local ‘Non-Believers’ Get Noticed
The New York Mets rarely make news in Cincinnati, but a recent stink reveals a conflict of interest that affects all mainstream news media: reporters looking for work with the people we cover. This particular brouhaha involves New York Daily News Adam Rubin, who covers the Mets. It began at a press conference when Mets…
Music: Son Volt
Son Volt’s latest touring efforts have been decent, as drummer Dave Bryson points out with a touch of sarcasm on the band’s blog. But he wasn’t too pleased with the Seattle Zoo gig July 23. “With a belly full of high-dollar snacks we mounted the stage, sun in our eyes, and looked out over…
Fiery Furnaces Expect the Unexpected
Sibling rivalry’s kryptonite is often musical collaboration. Examples of brothers and sisters playing harmoniously together in the sonic world are as multitudinous as corn stalks in midsummer Ohio: Donnie and Marie, Tegan and Sara and Michael and Janet Jackson all are prime examples of how siblings can thrive — sometimes sans talent — when their…
Music: The Fiery Furnaces
For Matthew and Eleanor Friedberger, better known as The Fiery Furnaces — a New York-based, Illinois-bred, hyper-experimental Indie band — family-based music wasn't a career move but rather a lifestyle. The Friedbergers boasted not only a guitar-wielding, piano-playing mother, but their grandmother was also a choir director. For them, music ostensibly doesn’t exist outside a…
Art: Emil Robinson at the Taft Museum of Art
The Taft Museum has launched a new program, Keystone Contemporary, that uses the intimate Keystone Gallery to present new work by an emerging contemporary artist and thus carry on the tradition of the Taft of supporting artists. For instance, when the museum was a private home, owner Nicholas Longworth commissioned Robert S. Duncanson to paint…
Events: ONE at the Cincinnati Art Museum
Ready to see the world in yellow? On Wednesday the Cincinnati Art Museum will have you doing just that as you experience art and culture through the lens of the color yellow at ONE: Sienna. The season finale of the ONE events will feature music from DJ Splotteykaeco as well as a performance from Mohenjo…
Onstage: Crimes of the Heart
Beth Henley became famous because of a friend who submitted her script to Actors Theatre of Louisville for its “Great American Play” contest, the forerunner to the now much respected Festival of New American Plays. Henley’s script, Crimes of the Heart, had been rejected by several theaters, but Actors Theatre saw something others had missed…
Another Historic Day for Cincinnati Music
The group behind last fall's successful effort to erect a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame historical marker at the former King Records studio is at it again. They're now hoping to memorialize Herzog Studios' contributions to local and national music history. At a press conference downtown this morning, leaders of the Cincinnati Music Heritage…
Son Volt with Cary Hudson
Son Volt’s latest touring efforts have been decent, as drummer Dave Bryson points out with a touch of sarcasm on the band’s blog (sonvolt.wordpress.com). But he wasn’t too pleased with the Seattle Zoo gig July 23. “With a belly full of high-dollar snacks we mounted the stage, sun in our eyes, and looked out over…
Tool with Tweak Bird
Lollapalooza 1993 at Deer Creek near Indianapolis. Through cosmic circumstances, I’m attending with the friend of a friend who I’ve never met and will never see again after this day, even though he turns out to be pretty cool. On the trip to Indy, Michael mentions that the one thing he’s most interested in seeing…
Civil Twilight with Bad Veins, now, now every children and Hazle Weatherfield
Defined scientifically, civil twilight is the time of day or evening when the center of the sun is six degrees below the horizon and terrestrial objects are still visible without the sun’s direct illumination. As defined by two South African brothers and their friend, Civil Twilight is a brilliant, thoughtful and energetic amalgam of Radiohead,…
Last Day to Vote for Theater CEAs
The polls close tonight at midnight for the 2009 Cincinnati Entertainment Awards for Theater. Once again the public is invited to determine the winners in 12 categories, while the remaining eight categories will be decided by as panel of local theater critics. See all the nominees and find the ballot here.—- The 13th annual Theater…
City Unveils Michael Bany Way
The city of Cincinnati memorialized a fallen local musician Friday by unveiling Michael Bany Way in Over-the-Rhine. Formerly called Jail Alley, it runs off of Main Street, where Bany was killed in 1995 following a performance. Bany's brother Mark has worked tirelessly to recognize his brother's accomplishments and to help the local music community via…
Charlie’s Corner: There’s a New Cream in Town
This weekend was a good weekend for walking around the city. The summer weather was finally gracing us with its presence and the rain was holding off for the day. Following a long night of taking in the arts at Final Friday, I awoke with a slight headache that could only be cured with greasy…
Ridiculous Band Names: A Retrospective
As CityBeat’s Assistant Music Editor for the past three months, I’m the person behind most of the music listings—those microscopic items printed in the middle of the newspaper every week. With the assistance of Real Actual Music Editor Mike Breen and a crazy little interface called Zipscene, I make them appear there and on the…
Buried Treasure: A Chain/Department Store Shopping Guide
As a final installment for this shopping guide adventure, I leave you with the Greater Cincinnati area's chain and department store options. If you aren't new to the city, many of you probably already know of these locations — but, hey, it's always nice to be reminded!—- 1. H&M 7875 Montgomery Road, Kenwood, 513-699-1500 2028…
The Girl from Monaco (Review)
Anne Fontaine’s clever genre-bender is a romantic satire that achieves a delicate balance of motivation and risk/reward or punishment on the social stage of its French Riviera town. Fabrice Luchini is Bertrand Beauvois, a nearly over-the-hill French attorney soaking up Monaco’s local atmosphere while defending Edith Lassalle (Stephane Audran), a wealthy murderess in a high-profile…
Brian Madison on Buying Local
Check out CityBeat's report on "local washing," the effort by corporate America to co-opt the "buy local" movement.
Orphan (Review)
Vera Farmiga has cornered the market of mothers in crisis in recent years. She and Sam Rockwell battled their seemingly demonic spawn (although, it was far creepier because he wasn’t a supernatural hellion) in Joshua. In Running Scared, Farmiga braved an urban nightmare with co-star Paul Walker in support of an abused young neighbor caught…
500 Days of Summer (Review)
All of the trailers and promotional packages for Marc Webb’s 500 Days of Summer try to warn audiences that the movie is not a love story, although it plainly has the boy meets girl/boy loses girl set-up. The trick, at least initially, is that it’s all about the efforts of the boy to get his…
Funny People (Review)
Writer/director Judd Apatow raises the stakes on his already stellar formula for generating laughs with a comedy that's equal parts sincerity and wit. Set in a real-life world of Los Angeles stand-up comics, the story revolves around Adam Sandler, very much playing himself as George Simmons, a hugely successful comedian living it up in his…
Stage Door: Free Theater in Covington
The theater scene gets a little thin this time of year, but on Friday and Saturday you can find a double shot for free in Covington. Stop by the Artisans Enterprise Center at 7 p.m. either evening for a multi-faceted program, "Theme and Revelations." —-You'll get a one-act play, Duck Variations, by the great playwright…
Good Music In Bad Movies: Smart or Sacrilegious?
It’s a formula frequently used in Hollywood: Make up for a mediocre movie or TV show with hip, obscure tunes and attempt to gain a little cred for music taste (if not artistic vision). —- We’ve seen it in the once-popular teen drama The O.C., which introduced artists like Spoon, Pinback and Imogen Heap to…
Macy’s Music Festival Night 1
Every summer, for one weekend, Cincinnati is the center of the R&B universe as the Macy’s Music Festival (around in one form or another since 1962) brings to town two jam-packed nights of old-school heroes and legends and some like-minded, younger whippersnappers. But the Macy’s Fest has also long been much more than just a…
Macy’s Music Festival Night 2
Every summer, for one weekend, Cincinnati is the center of the R&B universe as the Macy’s Music Festival (around in one form or another since 1962) brings to town two jam-packed nights of old-school heroes and legends and some like-minded, younger whippersnappers. But the Macy’s Fest has also long been much more than just a…
The Tillers: Video from Tom Brokaw Show
The excerpt from Tom Brokaw's American Character Along Highway 50 documentary film featuring Cincinnati Folk trio The Tillers aired last night on the USA Network, after being delayed a week. The video — stylishly filmed at Oberst's home in Sayler Park — is now posted on the USA Network's Web site here. —-Stay tuned for…
Buried Treasure: A Cincinnati Boutique Shopping Guide
If you still want to find that particular item that is unique but is maybe from a local or up-and-coming designer and is of high quality, Cincinnati has quite a few options for you to peruse. If you so choose, use the following as a guide to help you along your way!—- 1. The Brush…
‘Twas Just Another Day at the Ballpark
Like many Cincinnatians, I put patriotism in the reds. If you don’t love the Redlegs, according to the mantra of the city, you will be placed in the Dante’s layer of hell, which entails being eternally stuck in the mud and stung by wasps. But due to this phenomenon, attending a game at Great American…
Taft Museum Gets Contemporary
A show by a Cincinnati contemporary representational painter, "Axis Mundi: New Works by Emil Robinson (A Keystone Contemporary Show)," opens with a 1-4 p.m. reception Sunday at Taft Museum of Art downtown. Robinson will give a talk about his work during the event. This is the first show in what is to be an annual…
The Harlequins (Profile)
Mike Oliva is smiling as he recalls a surreal evening in Atlanta. The Harlequins played there July 2 — and, to their surprise, the club was sold out. The loving crowd even showered the band with comments like “Move to Atlanta!” and “What the fuck are you doing in Cincinnati?” “After the show we went…
Constructed Paper (Review)
Critic's Pick Judy Pfaff’s current exhibition of large-scale collaged works and small prints seems to continue an abiding interest that Carl Solway Gallery has in highly accomplished, mid-career artists who favor abstract interpretations of nature through a variety of approaches. Like Pat Steir, Lynda Benglis and Joan Snyder, who have all exhibited at Solway in…
July 22-28: Worst Week Ever!
WEDNESDAY JULY 22Penn National Gaming knows what kind of casino legislation is best for Ohioans — that’s why the company contributed millions of dollars to a campaign against last year’s pro-casino legislation and then beefed up its Lawrenceburg location to hold us over ’til next year. This year’s proposal is different (largely because it includes…
Hip Hop and the GOP
“We have, I’m happy to say, a lot of voices out there …”— Sen. John McCain, when asked who’s running the Republican Party Call me crazy, but lately I’ve been thinking that Hip Hop has more in common with the Republican Party — more specifically, the much discussed “Far Right” — than we might ever…
Confused and Concerned in Goshen
Dear Maija, I’m a 61-year-old woman who only uses the Internet to watch John Matarese’s helpful stories about that Spongebob show (he isn’t one of those gays, is he?), but some of the others (Monsters, Inc. and the one with the unionized penguins) are just offensive. I heard that 5-year-olds can sometimes confuse fantasy with…
Peter Seidel Forecasts the Future
Cincinnati author and architect Peter Seidel places his first novel, 2045: A Story of Our Future, clearly in the tradition of dystopian fiction classics 1984 and Brave New World and James Kunstler’s recent World Made By Hand. Seidel’s lead character, Carl, wakes after 35 years in a coma to witness the cumulative effects of behaviors…
Mayoral Race Needs More Beef
Just in time for campaign season to heat up, the Republican candidate for Cincinnati mayor has released his platform of issues, and it focuses heavily on providing incentives to lure new businesses to the city. Dr. Brad Wenstrup, the orthopedic surgeon from Columbia Tusculum who is the GOP’s contender, announced his platform July 29 in…
Mountain Songs
Socially-aware and politically-minded musicians like U2 and Public Enemy could be accused of trying to move (proverbial) mountains with their music. On Sunday, several local musicians will be joining forces to do just the opposite. “Music for the Mountains” is a music-minded event aimed at halting the practice of mountaintop removal coal mining in Appalachia.…
Bengals Fans, Portman, Tarbell, The Uninsured
[WINNER] BENGALS FANS: It’s not often Bengals fans have reason to celebrate, but they got one last week when the team’s owners agreed to settle a five-year-old lawsuit filed by a group of season ticketholders. When disappointed fans tried to cancel their expensive club seats, the team sent threatening letters that they must continue to…
The Best Places to Dine Al Fresco
It always sounds so exciting — dining al fresco. Like you’re planning on doing something daring, like dining naked. Or stealing away to your favorite Italian restaurant, alone, dressed in nothing but a gamurra and camicia, Botticelli-style. Of course, it really means that you’re just planning to eat outside, a pretty pedestrian endeavor. But if…
Corporate Co-Opt of ‘Local’
[Multimedia show: Brian Madison of Madison's at Findlay Market discusses the "buy local" movement in Greater Cincinnati.] HSBC, one of the biggest banks on the planet, has taken to calling itself “the world’s local bank.” Winn-Dixie, a 500-outlet supermarket chain, recently launched a new ad campaign under the tagline, “Local flavor since 1956.” The International…
Writing Up The Airborne Toxic Event
Success doesn’t come tracked any faster than that of The Airborne Toxic Event. Starting with an indie label last year, TATE was quickly attractive to the majors and, after several meetings, the Los Angeles quintet decided to cast its lot with Island Records. There was something about the label’s offer that was too good to…
Return of Albums, The Wal-Mart Bros. and MJ’s Hair
[HOT] Rebirth of the “Album”?According to a report from the AP, Apple and the four major music conglomerates are hashing out a plan to enhance sales of full album downloads. With the rise of iTunes and other legal download services, music fans have chosen to download single tracks over full-lengths, meaning less money for the…
Bottle Shock in Ripley
If you’ve seen the movie Bottle Shock, you’re familiar with the Judgment of Paris. In 1976, French judges blind-tasted both California and French chardonnays and cabernets, assuming the French would win. But it was California that won, causing the international community to start taking American wines seriously and Americans to begin flocking to California’s wine…
Next Steps for the Oxford Film Festival
The Oxford International Film Festival (OIFF) is in a transitional year. Founded by a small group of college students three years ago, it’s evolved into a reasonably well-programmed festival with access to a full-fledged movie house (the Esquire Theatre in Clifton) and growing interest from filmmakers lured by a Moviemaker magazine article pimping OIFF as…
Bedbugs on Holiday Schedule
People tell me they like my bus stories. Well, I’ve got a million of ’em, and you’re about to get another one. On July 3, the afternoon before the holiday, I was going to meet a friend downtown for drinks. Busing it, I waited for the 64 on Werk Road, allowing myself plenty of time…
Making Prints and Graphics Hip and Popular for Museums
For art museums, one knotty problem is that the public rarely flocks to prints/graphics shows. Prints are an important art form for museums to collect and display — many institutions even have curatorial departments devoted to them. But they’re tough to promote to visitors, which is frustrating during a recession when museums need to develop…
D.I.Y. Samurai: Attacking the Monster in the Closet
Being organized is supplemental to working on any kind of hands-on project. Unfortunately, many creative, craftastic individuals lack that innate sense of tidiness and organization. I’m certainly guilty of this; check out what my craft closet used to look like. —- I know, I should be ashamed. Thankfully, I have revamped my craft closet so…
CityBeat Podcast 21: Wessels vs. Brinkman: Round 2
Writer/web producer Joe Wessels and ex-State Rep. Tom Brinkman debate local issues from the left and the right, respectively. If you like what you hear, please support our podcast by subscribing to our podcast in iTunes or via our RSS feed. Also, please tell your friends and share this link on facebook and myspace. —-
CityBeat Podcast 20: Wessels vs. Brinkman
Writer/web producer Joe Wessels and ex-State Rep. Tom Brinkman debate local issues from the left and the right, respectively. If you like what you hear, please support our podcast by subscribing to our podcast in iTunes or via our RSS feed. Also please tell your friends and share this link on Facebook and MySpace. —-
CityBeat Podcast 19: Mark Flanigan and The Harlequins
On this episode we'll hear two stories from Cincinnati author Mark Flanigan and an interview with The Harlequins. The Harlequins have a CD release party this Friday at Southgate House. Rich Shivener, who conducted the interview, has a Locals Only story in this week's CityBeat on the band. If you like what you hear, please…
