Left Meets Right to Stop Jail Tax
Jymi Bolden Go figure: This time it's a Republican defending elections. The jail tax imposed last week by the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners seems to be one of those rare causes that pull in both progressives and conservatives. That's because the board did the one thing that free citizens of any political bent…
Art: The Language of Art
Scott Beseler Semantics Gallery has been a fixture in Brighton for nearly a decade. Semantics, the raw, artist-run little gallery on Harrison Avenue in Brighton, turns 15 this year, making it the longest running alternative art co-op in Cincinnati. In 1992, Cincinnati-based artists such as David Dillon (who moonlights as a preparator at the…
PETA Rocks
HOT Meat Is Murder And Unattractive? Ever wonder what your favorite musicians eat? Or, rather, what they don't eat? The folks at PETA are again presenting their annual poll to decide "Who's the World's Sexiest Vegetarian." There are several actors, some sports figures and even a former First Daughter (Chelsea Clinton) on the massive ballot,…
Art: Day by Day
Scott Beseler Jochen Saueracker prepares one of his works at Clay Street Press. Clay Street Press is now showing works by two print artists, Jochen Saueracker and Birgit Jensen, both of whom come from Dusseldorf, Germany. They work in different techniques within the printing world — Saueracker in linocuts and Jensen in silkscreens. The…
For Money or …?
J.D. Cutter With parents scarred by The Depression, baby-boomers came of age under Ronald Reagan, cashing out dreams of a Great Society for "incredibly sweet" deals. As Rush Limbaugh infected the airwaves in the 1990s, tax cuts replaced God and good faith as defining "conservative" values. Post 9/11, compassion is just a slogan of…
‘Enquirer’ Lays a Dinosaur Egg
The Enquirer's naive anticipation of the opening of Answers in Genesis' Creation Museum is disappointing but not surprising. For months Answers in Genesis has played The Enquirer like a Jew's harp. In three pages in the May 20 Sunday Community Forum and most of page 1, The Enquirer exhibits the credulous coverage it usually awards…
Sound Advice: : Erin McKeown, Chris Thile
Shore Fire Media Erin McKeown Erin McKeown with Greg Mahan Sunday · The Taft Museum of Art In much the same way that Rufus Wainwright has absorbed and translated a disparate number of musical genres into an oddly appropriate and completely original new entity, singer/songwriter Erin McKeown has created a delightfully unclassifiable brand of…
News: Candidate Has Multiple Violations
Graham Lienhart Minette Cooper's property in Avondale is stilllittered. Former Cincinnati Vice Mayor Minette Cooper has four unpaid citations for weed and litter infractions on property she owns, amounting to $1,200 in fines, according to the city's Office of Administrative Hearings. Cooper says she first found out about the citations after receiving a notice…
News: Getting There
Cincinnati Streetcar Feasibility Study The feasibility study shows the proposed streetcar route. A recent trip to Washington, D.C., gave Heather Sturgill a first-hand perspective on how an integrated public transit system can help revitalize cities. While there, she made frequent use of the district's subway system and other transportation options for quickly moving around…
Locals Only: : Juice Lee
513 K'nect Juice Lee Juice Lee's name is a play on the name of cult martial arts hero, Bruce Lee, whose moves laid rows of men out like fallen dominoes. But his name is just props because he's nowhere near as aggressive. Snacking on a "Craisin" muffin for breakfast, he expresses up front that…
Dance: A Beautiful Thing
Jana Hatcher Clockwise from center in rear: Jason Hatcher, Tricia Gelmini, Judith Mikita, Ashley Suttlar, Jeri Gatch, Diane Germaine, Michelle Bump and Rachel James. For 13 years, adventurous choreographers and dancers have gathered fruitfully under the umbrella of Choreographers Without Companies, an intriguing season-closing round-up of engaging modern dance presented by Contemporary Dance Theater.…
Creepshow III (HBO Video)
Creepshow III 2006, Rated R Completely lacking in speculation and/or allegory, this latest installment of the tired horror genre, put out by HBO Video plays like a direct-to-video toss-off made without an ounce of the network's input or even a screening for the janitorial staff who certainly would have known what to do with…
Battles — Mirrored (Warp)
Battles — Mirrored The ominous, eerie ambiance of Battles' newest venture is equivalent to being chased through a chaotic, demented funhouse by a sadistic horde of machete-wielding clowns. Fueled by an outfit of technically progressive savants — like Ian Williams of Don Caballero and John Stanier of Helmet and Tomahawk — Battles has successfully…
Any Hope for NBA in Cincinnati?
I'm a lifelong Cincinnatian, and it frustrates me to know that no one has taken the initiative to bring the NBA to a Cincinnati-Dayton market that's 3.1 million strong, around the same as Cleveland-Akron. I read Bill Peterson's recent column about the NBA playoffs ("Order Is Restored in NBA as Spurs and Pistons Head to…
The Clientele — God Save the Clientele (Merge)
The Clientele — God Save the Clientele For their third album, The Clientele channel late '60s/early '70s Pop when the genre was steeped in melodic and emotional simplicity while yearning to explore more expansive modes of expression. With God Save the Clientele, the London quartet create a new iteration of their breathy bedroom Pop…
Showbiz Players
Matt Steffen The cast of Disney's High School Musical, which opens at The Carnegie in Covington on Friday. Don't lose sight of the fact that there's theater going on in places other than the Fringe Festival, even though that's where most of our focus has been for the past two weeks. If you like…
Diner: Review: Vito’s Cafe
Joe Lamb I have a confession to make: When my editor said that I'd be reviewing Vito's Café, I scrambled to think of an excuse not to go. "My goldfish died!" "My computer died!" "My appetite died!" I just knew I had to get out of it. Oh my gawd, singing waiters and spaghetti?…
Onstage: Picking Over the Fringe
Deogracias Lerma Anthony Darnell stars in iLove, which delves into emotional connection (or lack thereof) in the information age. With this issue of CityBeat, the 2007 Cincinnati Fringe Festival finds itself at the halfway point. Seven reviewers have been catching the openings of each Fringe performance and writing online reviews. By this point almost…
Homer Bailey Might End Reds’ Player Development Slump
Jerry Dowling Many sports fans, citing the late Ted Williams as the sole authority on the subject, say hitting a baseball is the most difficult act in sports. Williams, whose last professional athletic performance occurred in 1960, must have found it easy to dodge a half ton of pass rushers as he looked downfield…
New Jail a Taxing Problem
Hamilton County commissioners voted last week to increase the county's sales tax to fund a new jail and a larger safety plan. They considered placing the plan on the August or November ballot but ultimately decided to hike the sales tax without a public vote. Critics have pounced on Todd Portune and David Pepper for…
Bike Co-Op Thrives in Northside
At first glance, sticking a bicycle shop in the middle of a community garden seems a little misplaced. But as MoBo Bicycle Co-Op board member Gabriel Freeman says of the folks who operate the garden,
M*A*S*H: Goodbye, Farewell and Amen (Fox)
M*A*S*H: Goodbye, Farewell and Amen 1983, Not Rated By the time M*A*S*H pulled into its 11th and final season, it was a far different vehicle than the one that rolled out in the fall of 1972. It was certainly light-years from Robert Altman's 1970 theatrical realization of Richard Hooker's novel. By the fall of'82…
The Political Pendulum Swings Back
America's experiment with neofascism is coming to an end. He came to office in a coup d'état and consolidated power after 9/11. George W. Bush might be our worst president in history — certainly in recent times — but he is also one of the most important. Imposing his sweeping vision on everything from the…
Chefapalooza
The fifth annual 7 Days for SIDS fund-raiser kicks off a week of events starting on Monday, including Chefapalooza at the Midwest Culinary Institute Tuesday. Chefapalooza offers live cooking demonstrations by area chefs as well as food samplings and wine. Scheduled chefs and entertainers include Bootsy Collins; Kathy Wade; former 98 degrees band member Justin…
Music: Shaking the Faith
Matt Slocum Likening Punk Rock to the "fire-and-brimstone" preachers of the South, Th' Legendary Shack Shakers bridge the gap with their music and live shows. Col. J.D. Wilkes is high-tailing it through Mississippi, drifting in and out of currents of cell-phone reception as his 15-passenger van dips in and out of gullies on its…
Living Out Loud: : Stuff
Next month I'll be moving downtown and away from Clifton's Gaslight District. It's probably time for me to throw some stuff out. The center drawer in the desk in my study is a complete mess; and one night last week while thinking about the move, I sat down with a trashcan to throw some things…
‘Tones on Film
There was a time when I first started writing that the arrival of a "video" (back then, they were on ye olde VHS) from a band made me cautiously pessimistic. Someone probably borrowed a giant video camera from their parents and took some shaky-handed footage of the band playing live, accompanied by audio that sounded…
Maxed Out (Magnolia)
Maxed Out 2005, Not Rated The American debt crisis is raked over the coals in this fascinating but ultimately flawed documentary from James D. Scurlock. While not uniquely American, our debt dilemmas are an offshoot of the "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness" creed put forth by our founders. Yet having the biggest and…
News: All in a Day’s Work
Mark Bealer James Thomas hopes to testify in support of a lawsuit by a group of Cincinnati day laborers. Teenagers camping overnight on a sidewalk to get concert tickets aren't such a surprising sight. The popularity of Harry Potter books has made kids crowding sidewalks outside a bookstore late at night commonplace. But getting…
Fishbone — Still Stuck in Your Throat (Sound in Color)
Fishbone — Still Stuck in Your Throat From their very beginnings in Los Angeles in 1979, Fishbone was one of the most raucous and outlandish bands to emerge from a scene that also produced Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jane's Addiction. Combining Ska, Soul, Metal, Punk, Funk and Reggae in a stew that spontaneously…
Cover Story: Fun with Gays and Lesbians
Mr.Photos.com A Circle of Friends Every Monday evening from April through Labor Day, Doug Wainscott puts on his tennis shoes and athletic wear, grabs his bat and catcher's mitt and hits the field in Miamitown, looking forward to working up a sweat with his softball team. Like many people who participate in the great…
Film: To Keep or Not to Keep?
Universal Pictures Katherine Heigl and Seth Rogan take a trip to the doctor in Knocked Up. Remember when abortion used to be a safe, legal and reasonably frequent alternative to unwanted pregnancy? It still is, actually. According to the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit institution dedicated to sexual- and reproductive-health research, 23.8 percent of all…
Lookwhos: Look Who’s Eating: Mark Jang
Graham Lienhart You wouldn't think that the owner of a classy Korean restaurant would be thrilled to have a Wild West saloon move in next door, but Mark Jang thinks Deadwood is "neat." The owners have cleaned up the alley behind what was the old Army Surplus store, and it's nice enough now that…
News: Writing to Change the World
Samantha Power Samantha Power, author of a book on modern genocide, speaks next week at the Mercantile Library. "So you're the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war," Abraham Lincoln said to Cincinnati native Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin, the book that made real for many the…
Film: Wedding Crasher
IFC Films Sidse Babett Knudsen (left) and Mads Mikkelsen star in After the Wedding. Susanne Bier, director of After the Wedding, has been one of the luminaries of Denmark's Dogme movement — films grounded in real-life concerns featuring naturalistic acting and as little production artifice as possible. At their purest, they eschewed scores, artificial…
News to Use
The Mayor Will See You Now Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory meets twice a month with anyone who has an issue or problem to discuss with him. "Mayors Night In" is from 5-7 p.m. in the mayor's office at City Hall. Every citizen who attends has a five-minute individual meeting to talk about anything they wish.…
