News: Luken Names Civilian Complaint Authority
Cincinnati Mayor Charles Luken has named his appointees to the new Civilian Complaint Authority. Formed as part of the collaborative agreement settling a lawsuit over racial profiling by the Cincinnati Police Department, the Civilian Complaint Authority (CCA) will investigate complaints about police conduct. The members appointed by Luken are: ·Dr. Walter Bowers, 56, a resident…
Locals Only: : Snake Punching Contest
Michael Bailey Snake Punching Contest Fed up with the inexplicable predominance of local cover bands, uninterested in genre labels and only mildly amused at sonic comparisons, local Rock trio Snake Punching Contest (SPC) prefer to punch their own snakes. They're just not interested in fixing their sound to satisfy outside definitions. Comprised of Donna…
Guided by Voices
Guided By Voices After a two-album stint with major indie TVT Records, Dayton's Guided By Voices has returned to Matador, the label-home to the band's breakthrough albums like Bee Thousand and Alien Lanes, for their superb new release Universal Truths and Cycles. Bob Pollard — one of the most prolific singer/songwriters today — and…
Reviews of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay and Talk: A Novel in Dialogue
Not long ago, book-bent folks spent their summers slogging through a single epic tome, like Gravity's Rainbow or War and Peace, approaching their insufferable allegiance as if literacy was a debt come due. Thank goodness we've moved beyond all that balderdash. Dropping pretense for pure enjoyment, summer reading should have all the liberating zing…
2119 Central Ave., West End
Address: 2119 Central Ave., West End Owner: Anthony Henderson ofWest Chester Year Built: 1875 Value: $8,000 in 2001, according to the Hamilton County Auditor's office Comments: Anthony Henderson, the owner of this Central Avenue building, has not responded to a citation and fine, according to Richard Hubbell, an inspector with the Cincinnati Department of…
Diner: Simple Pleasures
The longest-standing vegetarian joint in Clifton and the first in the city to offer Mediterranean food, Myra's Dionysus is a cozy Clifton haven of wholesome ethnic flavor and lots of love. Despite eclectic world offerings and plenty of soy products, the place has been around too long (since 1977) to be described as "trendy." The…
News: Fissures in Stonewall
Mike McCleese (left) and Heidi Bruins led Stonewall Cincinnati into a larger human-rights struggle. Now they might be booted from the organization's board. A vote next week by members of Stonewall Cincinnati could reverse what some called a revolution in the organization's role in the community. Both of Stonewall's co-chairs and another member of…
News: The Art of Survival
Thomas Condon Unable to use his camera in prison, Thomas Condon has spent much of his time sketching life behind bars. The trick to withstanding confinement in prison is to not let it jail your creativity, according to photographer Thomas Condon. Since April, when Condon began serving a 30-month prison term for eight counts…
A Postcard from St. Louis
Here's a familiar scene: A sprawling Midwestern city of nearly 2 million people, located on a large river. It's not Cincinnati. I'm describing St. Louis, my new home since August 2000. A career move took my wife Sarah and me here. I soon discovered that while Midwestern cities might sound similar on paper, each one…
Laura Davis’ I Thought We’d Never Speak Again
Laura Davis is no stranger to estranged relationships. Her 1988 book The Courage to Heal, co-authored with Ellen Bass, was a first glimpse into a world of healing for many adult survivors of sexual abuse. A necessary part of that healing was facing what had happened and bringing the abuse into the open, which…
Diner: Fun & Funky
Opened in 1982 by Sylvia Krull, a flamboyant Mexican-American ex-stripper known for her snake-charming abilities, Sylvia's Mexican Restaurant enjoyed the next several years as a popular hang-out for local Latinos and gringos who appreciated authentic, inexpensive Mexican food. However, good, cheap eats were not the only reasons people flocked to Sylvia's, and by 1990 the…
Japa Yoga
Mantra Yoga, also known as Japa Yoga, is the repetition of a mantra as a primary self-development technique. "Mantra" is a Sanskrit word originally defined as "a sacred sound or word or series of syllables used to create an action with auspicious transformative qualities." Japa Yoga is the technique of repeating the sacred sound of…
Continuing Films
ABOUT A BOY — (Grade: A) In Will, a smarmy British bachelor who joins a single-parents' club as a way to meet women, actor Hugh Grant finds a screen character perfectly matched to his own unique blend of cultured arrogance and foppish personality traits. Grant's natural performance enhances the film's frequent, comic moments. He also…
Music: Arena Bluegrass?
Del McCoury (center) and his band "This O Brother album has done so well, I've stopped building ceilings altogether," laughs Bluegrass singer Dan Tyminski. Even over the phone, he makes a distinctly cheerful, easygoing impression for a man whose voice will forever be associated with the doleful "I'm A Man Of Constant Sorrow." "If…
Try & Try (Him) Again
Cops talk too much. Like gossipy hens across the backyard clothesline, they squawk about what went down with this perp and what was done to that one. I'm betting that, right about now, Robert Jorg wishes he'd kept his trap shut about what kind of hold he used on Roger Owensby Jr. that fitful evening.…
Whirlygig: 33
Edited by Rebecca Lomax Breaking Type Friday night turned out to be an impromptu trip to Riverbend for the Cincinnati Pops concert featuring Michael Feinstein. I wouldn't say the Pops are all that attractive to me, but the publicity shots of Michael weren't too hateful and I do like the classic ballads he sings. I…
