French Film Festival Stops at NKU
The Tournees Festival of New French Films returns to Northern Kentucky University each Wednesday (at 3:30 p.m.) and Thursday (at 7 p.m.) through April 28. Sponsored by the French American Cultural Exchange and nurtured to the area by Dr. John Alberti, director of NKU's cinema studies program, the fest opens this week with Philippe Lioret's…
Morning News Stuff
While Obama highlighted sound reasons for entering a war with Libya in his speech last night (denying people their freedom, exploiting their wealth, dressing like Arsenio Hall in Coming to America), he still has his critics. Sarah Palin wants to know why the president is wasting millions of dollars a day on the war. The…
Readers Picks
ATHLETEJoey Votto, Reds2. Dhani Jones , Bengals 3. Chad Ochocinco , Bengals BEARCATYancy Gates2. Zac Collaros3. Isaiah Pead BENGALDhani Jones2. Chad Ochocinco3. Rey Maualuga COACH/MANAGER (PRO/COLLEGE)Dusty Baker, Reds 2. Chris Mack , Xavier basketball 3. Mick Cronin , UC basketball COACH/MANAGER (HIGH SCHOOL)Steve Specht, St. Xavier football 2. Doug Ramsey , Elder football 3. Tom…
Events: Best of Cincinnati Celebration
Join us on Opening Day Eve to celebrate the 15th annual Best of Cincinnati issue and get a glimpse of the best people, food, drinks and prizes you’ll find anywhere in Greater Cincinnati … plus a peek at one of the main locations where George Clooney, Paul Giamatti and Ryan Gosling recently filmed their movie…
Readers Picks
BEST CINCINNATIANNick Lachey 2. Jim Tarbell 3. Pete Rose BEST NORTHERN KENTUCKIAN Nick Clooney 2. Cris Collinsworth 3. Jean-Robert de Cavel DO-GOODERFreestore Foodbank 2. Hospice of Cincinnati 3. Dhani Jones TROUBLEMAKERChad Ochocinco 2. Mike Brown 3. Bill Cunningham FRIEND TO THE ENVIRONMENTCincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden – 3400 Vine St., Avondale, 513-751-2136 2. Dan Korman…
Art: Brighton Gallery Openings
While it would be pushing it to call Brighton a true art district yet, it has several of the city's best and most serious-minded alternative galleries. Because their hours are so limited, it's not often easy to see work at them in one night — or at all. Thus, the
Events: Opening Day Parade
Air out your Reds gear and practice your fake cough, 'cause it is time to celebrate baseball’s annual festival. The Queen City honors the unofficial holiday on Thursday as the Cincinnati Reds face the Milwaukee Brewers at 2:10 p.m. at the Great American Ball Park. The baseball season kicks off with 92nd annual Opening Day…
Events: Cincinnati’s Finest Finale
Join the Cincinnati Cystic Fibrosis Foundation this Friday and help celebrate some of the Tristate’s finest young professionals as they are honored for their outstanding contributions to their community at the Second Annual 2011 Finest Finale. Not only will you have the chance to enjoy by-the-bite foods and live music by Ten Foot Big, you’ll…
Events: Gunther Hauk Visit
Ever wonder why you don’t see as many bees buzzing these days? Master beekeeper Gunther Hauk reveals what is behind the global bee crisis and how we can protect these marvelous givers of life — they pollinate three-quarters of our food. Learn more about the honey bee crisis 7-9:30 p.m. Sunday as Xavier University (3800…
Music: The Civil Wars
Just over two years ago, Joy Williams and John Paul White were maintaining separate and fairly successful solo careers. Williams had been singing since her teenage years, had a number of hits in the Inspirational (i.e. Christian) genre and scored a number of Dove Award nominations, but had tired of the category’s constraints and was…
The Pursuit Of Appyness
As anyone who has a smartphone can tell you, the “app” is becoming the new Web site. Soon, if your business (or museum or band or nonprofit, etc.) doesn’t have an app available on iTunes or from other online application retailers, you might as well revert to communicating with the public via smoke signals. Despite…
Staff Picks
Best Friday Night Live T he MidPoint Indie Summer concert series had its best year yet in 2011. Along with a ton of local, original musical acts, the Friday night series brought international bands to town that one would never expect to see playing live, for free, on Fountain Square, including Scotland’s Camera Obscura and…
Comedy: Chris Porter
A few years ago Chris Porter was just a stand-up comedian from Kansas City touring the country when he had what he calls “an epiphany.” He elaborates on his blog: “I was drinking amaretto out of a girl's vagina when I thought to myself that this was as good as it was ever going to…
Sleeper Agent
At a time when music sites and social networking feeds supply endless amounts of info and feedback about bands with even the tiniest doses of cultural relevance, it's difficult for any hyped act to stay undissected for long. But as of this writing, Sleeper Agent are still at the head of their buzz cycle, with…
Staff Picks
Best Bet for Downtown S mart new nonprofit Bridging Broadway aims to be the connector between the new Horseshoe Casino Cincinnati at Broadway Commons and surrounding neighborhoods, nearby businesses and other organizations. They’ve already held sessions to get feedback from lots of different people about what the casino might mean to the city, and more…
Readers Picks
BEST OVERALL RESTAURANT1. Montgomery Inn – 9440 Montgomery Road, Montgomery, 513-791-3482; 925 Riverside Drive, East End, 513-721-7427; 400 Buttermilk Pike, Fort Mitchell, 859-344-5333 2. Skyline Chili, Multiple locations 3. Nada, 600 Walnut St., Downtown, 513-721-6232 4. Melt, 4165 Hamilton Ave., Northside, 513-861-MELT 5. The Precinct, 311 Delta Ave., Columbia-Tusculum, 513-321-5454 6. Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse ,…
Music: Sleeper Agent
At a time when music sites and social networking feeds supply endless amounts of info and feedback about bands with even the tiniest doses of cultural relevance, it's difficult for any hyped act to stay undissected for long. But as of this writing, Sleeper Agent are still at the head of their buzz cycle, with…
Music: Bob Seger
There are several Bob Segers and, as a Michigan native, I have been privy to most of them. I bought the early Bob Seger System singles (being too young for his work with The Decibels, The Town Criers, The Omens and The Last Heard); “Heavy Music,” “2 2=?,” “Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Man,” “Lucifer” and “Noah” were…
Art: Jimmy Baker: Remote Viewing
Remote Viewing, Jimmy Baker’s solo exhibition at the Contemporary Arts Center, is heavy with the artist’s efforts to invent new ways for paintings to be made in the 21st century. Distorted digital photographs printed directly onto the canvases are combined with slurps and slashes of oil painting. The depicted imagery refers back to this hybrid…
Music: moe.
Two decades ago, a group of musical buddies thrown together randomly at the University of Buffalo coalesced into a swinging little band called Five Guys Named Moe, which morphed, for a thankfully brief week, into Haggis before settling on the simple name moe. (with a quick detour to the moe. guitar army, but that was…
Staff Picks
Best Next Year's Hall of Famer E ven the most die-hard Reds fan didn’t expect Barry Larkin to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer — competition is kind of tough for such honors. But those of us who didn’t appreciate all the All-Star Games Larkin didn’t get to start because Ozzie Smith could do backflips…
Music: Wild Talents
Studying E.T.s and paranormal oddities was all in a day’s work for Charles Fort, a writer/researcher who developed a cult following. In 1932, Fort coined the phrase “wild talents,” referring to eerie psychic and mental abilities. Named after the book by the same name, in this same supernatural vein, local band Wild Talents breathes out…
Happythankyoumoreplease (Review)
Red flags immediately go off as soon as the first frames flicker onscreen. Before we see him, we understand that Sam Wexler (Josh Radnor) will be an East Coast slacker-cad on the road to redemption and that his best friend Annie (Malin Akerman), an alopecia sufferer, will have to come to grips with her own…
Readers Picks
BEST OVERALL BAR/NIGHTCLUB Blue Wisp Jazz Club – 318 E. Eighth St., Downtown, 513-241-9477 2. Northside Tavern 4163 Hamilton Ave., Northside, 513-542-3603 3. Mynt Martini 28 Fountain Square Plaza, Downtown, 513-621-6968 4. Southgate House 24 E. Third St., Newport, 859-431-2201 5. Arnold’s Bar & Grill 210 E. Eighth St., Downtown, 513-421-6234 6. Hofbrauhaus 200 E.…
Art: The Art of Food
Visitors to the Carnegie Visual and Performing Arts Center’s annual exhibition The Art of Food, which is up now, have come to expect a particular brand of art — that which is made from or inspired by food. So, at first glance, the woven paper constructions of Jonpaul Smith come as a surprise. A closer examination,…
Readers Picks
APARTMENT COMPLEXThe Lofts at Shillito Place – 151 W. Seventh St., Downtown, 513-651-16612. Fourth & Plum , Downtown 3. Urban Sites Properties , Over-the-Rhine BUILDINGUnion Terminal – 1301 Western Ave., West End, 513-287-7043 2. Music Hall, Over-the-Rhine 3. Carew Tower , Downtown CHURCH FESTIVALPanegyri Festival at Holy Trinity-St. Nicholas – 7000 Winton Road, Finneytown, 513-591-00302.…
Onstage: Musical Theatre Showcase
If you are in New York City to see a Broadway show a year or two from now, you might have a hard time getting a ticket to see a show featuring some of the young talent about to graduate from the renowned musical theater program at UC’s College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). So this week…
‘Just Keep Showing Up’
It’s a Wednesday at lunchtime, and instead of writing term life policies, insurance agent Dave Wurzelbacher is taking orders and clearing plates at Tucker’s Restaurant on Vine Street in Over-the-Rhine. He tells me — although he doesn’t need to — “I don’t really work here. I’m just helping Joe." A little while later, Dave Alpern,…
Staff Picks
Best Advocate For Change T he tireless Adam Reilly is full of youthful exuberance and uses it to help others. As a risk reduction specialist with Stop AIDS, Reilly has done extensive research, held focus groups, traveled to conferences and spoken with the city’s health commissioner about getting a needle exchange up and running in…
Readers Picks
BEST NEW STORE Charming Charlie – 2693A Edmondson Road, Oakley, 513-351-2251 2. Picnic and Pantry, 4163 Hamilton Ave., Northside, 513-681-8600 3. Chicken Lays An Egg, 1608 Chase Ave., Northside, 513-834-9268 4. lululemon athletica , 3437 Michigan Ave., Hyde Park, 513-321-2358 5. Pet Wants, 1813 Pleasant St. (inside Findlay Market next to Silverglades) Over-the-Rhine, 513-721-8696 6.…
Staff Picks
Best Spay/Neuter Clinic U CAN, the United Coalition for Animals ’ spay and neuter clinic, wants you to “imagine a world without euthanasia” by taking action and removing your pet’s sex organs. Because it’s a nonprofit, even people on an editor’s salary can afford to prevent Fifi or Fido from any pregnancy scares by handing…
Staff Picks
Best Taco Truck Without an Engine T aqueria Yolandita is the tiny taco trailer that stands beside Tienda La Centro America, a Latino grocery on Queen City Avenue. The menu is brief, but you’ve still got a tough choice — you’ll want to try everything that Rea, the owner, makes. Overstuffed tacos, priced at three…
The Cowboy vs. The Creeper
T he Reds are coming off a 91-win season, their first division title in 15 years and are expected to compete for the National League Central championship again in 2011. They’re stocked with young talent and look primed to compete for years to come. But as exciting as the future of the team and players…
Conflict And Interest
L ocal attorney Tim Mara always seems ahead of the curve and isn’t afraid to take some guff because of it. It was Mara who, back in the mid-1990s, collected enough signatures to force a half-cent sales tax increase onto the ballot so voters would have the final decision. The increase was sought by Cincinnati…
Literary: Cheetah Chrome
Peter Frampton, Cincinnati’s resident Classic Rock star, better watch his step this Sunday — Cheetah Chrome is coming to town. Chrome, the explosively thrashing guitarist/songwriter with the key American Punk band the Dead Boys, will be at the Comet in Northside at 3:30 p.m. on that day as part of the unusual, trend-setting Cleveland Confidential…
Events: Cabaret Opening
As of this weekend, Over-the-Rhine will be home to The Cabaret, a new performance venue featuring some of Cincinnati’s best and best-loved drag queens, joined regularly by national drag stars. The Public Grand Opening is on Friday with additional grand opening parties on the following Saturday and Sunday. Friday night’s show starts at 10:30 p.m.…
Naturally Doggone Delicious: Pet Wants creates small batch pet food with a trademark design and concept
Amanda Broughton and Michele (‘Chele) Hobbs live less than a mile from Findlay Market. Hobbs worked in construction sales until the market tanked; Broughton has a marketing degree and formerly ran a nightclub. They also own several cats and dogs, including Jackson, a beautiful blue-eyed Australian Shepherd mix who suffers from severe food allergies. Why…
Main Attraction
O ne characteristic of a bar-based entertainment district is that such businesses must adapt in order to keep up with the latest trends. It’s just the nature of the bar industry, according to Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce President Brian L. Tiffany, who says the Main Street bar district’s struggles during recent years are not uncommon.…
Still Separated by Race
In at least one important aspect, Greater Cincinnati hasn't changed much during the past decade. Data from the 2010 U.S. Census shows the region is the eighth-most racially segregated metropolitan area in the nation, the same ranking it held after the 2000 count.—- Greater Cincinnati's “dissimilarity rating” is 69.42 percent, according to the most recent…
Greenhornes Rock Covington, Then Carson Daly
The ever-busy Greenhornes bring their current tour with San Antonio rockers Hacienda (“discovered” by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys and also the bulk of Auerbach’s solo touring band, The Fast Five) to Covington’s Mad Hatter Thursday night for an all-ages, 8 p.m. show. (Local openers are The Kickaways and Two Headed Dog, featuring former…
Northside Group Tries to Save Pool
A group of Northside residents is working to raise $45,000 needed to open the neighborhood's swimming pool this summer, after the facility became the victim of the city's budget cuts. The Working Families Movement of Northside held a rally March 24 to kickoff its fundraising effort. The group wants the pool at the city-owned McKie…
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (Review)
The latest adaptation in Jeff Kinney’s best-selling children’s illustrated series finds the nerdy Greg Heffley (Zachary Gordon) taking lessons from his older brother Rodrick (Devon Bostick) in order to survive and thrive as a tween in the middle and junior high school world. The first movie set up Greg’s world and populated it with a…
Sucker Punch (Review)
Before tackling the world’s greatest superhero, Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) spends a bit more time playing in his hyper-realized world, but this tale of imprisoned young girls who have to harness the power of their own minds to free themselves from oppression looks and feels like a visual mash-up of everything from Sky Captain and…
Raise a Glass for Arnold’s Day!
These days, if a bar opens downtown and stays in operation for a year, it's reason to celebrate. If you've survived 150 years — well, the owners should get the key to the city or something. Turns out, the "something" for 150-year-old establishment Arnold's Bar and Grill —popular as a bar, restaurant and music club…
Julius Caesar (Review)
By coincidence, I’ve been watching on DVD the HBO series Rome, about the rise and fall of Julius Caesar and the politics that swirled around his reign over the Empire and led to his assassination. If you haven’t seen this particular historical recreation, I’ll mention that two women play very significant roles: Caesar’s scheming niece…
Friday Movie Roundup: Multiplex Blues Edition
It's been a typically lackluster first quarter of the year at the movie house, as precious few offerings have risen beyond mediocrity (Blue Valentine, Cedar Rapids, The Lincoln Lawyer, Rango and The Way Back have been rare exceptions). The dire situation has more acute at the multiplex. —-There are several reasons for this, none more…
The Sundresses Return TONIGHT
If you've found yourself wondering recently, "What happened to that band The Sundresses?," you can find out tonight (Friday) as the riotous local power trio brings its ass-whuppin' Post Punk/Blues/Rock/Roots sound and energized live show back to the clubs of Greater Cincinnati. The band is playing its first show at downtown's historic Arnold's Bar and…
Stage Door: Rapture, Quilts Et Tu, Brute!
It's a good weekend for local theater, with two confirmed choices and a fascinating new production with a lot of potential. Both shows that opened a week ago — End Days at Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati and Gee's Bend at Cincinnati Playhouse — have been recommended by the Acclaims judging panel that considered them, and…
Listen Up!: New Tunes Alert
I've had nearly a dozen different people ask me the same question over the last week or so: “What have you been listening to?” Luckily, it's been a fruitful season for (relatively) new music. Here's my answer: PJ Harvey —Let England Shake: Harvey's latest gets better and digs deeper with every spin via its textured…
ArtsWave Samplers Draw Strong Crowds
ArtsWave has put out a very positive press release about the attendance for its first three Sampler Weekends, as well as information for the next three — including one this Saturday. —- Here are excerpted, edited parts from the release: “Almost 9,000 people participated in the first three Sampler weekends,” notes Margy Waller, Vice President,…
More on Brinkman and Burke
As it turns out, Tom Brinkman Jr. plans on running for statewide office. He just doesn't know which one yet. That's the explanation being offered for Brinkman's recent claim on a mass e-mail invitation that the $50 cost to attend an anti-Obama event could be deducted from taxes as a campaign donation.—- Brinkman recently distributed…
VIDEO: The Roots and Bootsy Play P-Funk Classic
The Roots sounded especially funky last night on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, thanks to one of Cincinnati's greatest contributions to music, funkmaster Bootsy Collins. Collins lent his ample bottom end to The Roots' between-segment jams (and even played on some silly skit background music with the group). Collins and his new bandmates closed the…
New Cincinnati Hip Hop Cypher Clip
For once there’s a Hip Hop music video out featuring MCs sporting Reds baseball caps who actually have ties to Cincinnati. Several Hip Hop artists recently gathered to record and film a video for an impressive MC showcase that shows Cincy Hip Hop is in good hands. —- “The Official Cincinnati Cypher 2011” was directed…
Buckra Goes to the Movies
Earlier this week we wrote about locally-bred Indie sensations The National having a song featured in the new film Win Win. But there’s a local band that didn’t move to Brooklyn also featured in a prominent independent film coming out soon. Eclectic veteran foursome Buckra has a track in the forthcoming movie Meet Monica Velour,…
Paavo Jarvi Drops New Album
Paavo Jarvi — whom Steven Rosen interviews (among others) for our cover story this week — stops by Joseph Beth Booksellers 5:30-7 p.m. to celebrate the release of his 17th album, American Portraits, with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Yes, 17th. Talk about prolific — take that Lil Wayne! —- The album, which features live concert…
Why? Sells Records and More for Japan Relief
Josiah Wolf — the son of a Cincinnati rabbi who helped form the experimental Indie Rock/Hip Hop group Why? with his brother Yoni in the Bay Area but currently resides in Xenia — and his bandmates are doing their part to help disaster relief efforts in Japan. The group has launched a special eBay auction…
Meredith Trombly [Co-Founder, Fresh Table]
When the company restructures and you’re suddenly without a job, you might take a chance like Meredith Trombly and Louis Snowden did when they opened a food stall at Findlay Market called Fresh Table (513-381-3774), specializing in organic, locally sourced foods. Meredith was the organic food buyer for Bigg’s and Louis was the corporate chef,…
Vedder, Wyclef and SXSW
[HOT] Uke Gotta Be Kidding Some artists are so beloved they could release an album of songs performed on ukulele and fans would still buy the shit out of it. That’s not hyperbole — Eddie Vedder is putting the theory to the test with the upcoming release of Ukulele Songs, a collection of originals and…
Sports: Cincinnati Rollergirls
Forget chicks in bikinis. Erase the excitement of “ladies” mud wrestling. It’s time you really get your heart pumping as the Cincinnati Rollergirls whip into town Saturday for their first home game of the season. Prepare for a feast of thrashing as the girls aim to make it to the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association…
Taste This: Pizza Combo
While many of the items taste-tested in this column each month are “weird” or “unusual” ethnic foods — uncommon perhaps in our general culture but the norm for many others — we’ve also examined products that showcase all-American gluttony at its finest, from KFC’s brazenly unhealthy Double Down to the daffy concoctions made for hard-to-please…
Music: Kaki King
Call Kaki King a guitar god. It’s OK — Rolling Stone did. To her, it’s a compliment, though she’s not entirely sure what to make of such a lofty tag. “What does that even mean?” she asks. She thinks about it for a second as we finish up our phone interview, conducted while she rides…
Sex and Friendship
When it comes to sex and friendship, I think it’s better not to mix the two. It’s not a good idea to start out as friends with someone and then decide you want to sleep with them. If you want sex, date someone or just have sex with someone else for the sake of having…
The Fearless Kaki King
C all Kaki King a guitar god. It’s OK — Rolling Stone did. To her, it’s a compliment, though she’s not entirely sure what to make of such a lofty tag. “What does that even mean?” she asks. She thinks about it for a second as we finish up our phone interview, conducted while she…
March 16-22: Worst Week Ever!
WEDNESDAY MARCH 16 Kentucky’s House today passed a measure that will raise the minimum age at which dropping out of school becomes an option from 16 to 18 years old. Unfortunately for First Lady Jane Beshear, who has given the issue priority during the last two years, the measure was quickly smote in the state…
Music: Great Young Hunters
Emptying change jars, digging through couch cushions, turning pockets inside out, shining a flashlight under the fridge hoping to retrieve a lost quarter from yesteryear — some bands will do anything to get into the recording studio. Rounding up some money to lay down a few tracks is a rite of passage nowadays. For Northern…
A Movie Proposal
I f you’re reading this section of the paper, odds are you’re a) someone over the age of 18 and b) someone who is interested in what’s going on in movie theaters. Congratulations on being a survivor in a species on the verge of extinction. It’s no breaking news story to anyone who follows the…
Limitless (Review)
p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } Director Neil Burger — the guy behind the excellent The Illusionist and the less excellent The Lucky Ones — returns with a thriller starring the suddenly ubiquitous Bradley Cooper as Eddie Marra, a sputtering aspiring writer whose life is turned upside down when he starts taking an experimental drug that…
Skeetones Get ‘Retrospektive’
If you’re looking for a one-word description of local instrumental group Skeetones’ unique sound — well, good luck with that. “Electronic” is probably the closest you’d come, but even that’s just a tiny clue as to what’s in store on the band’s incredibly diverse, debut full-length release, Retrospektive. The five-piece band brings an analog vibe…
Police Chief’s Horrid Reign Gets Whitewashed
T here’s a tendency among many people to romanticize the past, and that’s especially true of the mainstream media. Unless a politician or other public official is convicted of a crime, virtually anyone is subject to the “rose-colored glasses” treatment upon his or her retirement or death. Maybe it’s because it is easier to write…
County Taxpayers and Stan Chesley
[LOSER] QUEENSGATE TERMINALS: A jury this week rejected most claims in a lawsuit filed against the city of Cincinnati over the stalled Queensgate Terminals project proposed along the Ohio River in East Price Hill. Developer David Martin of Bluegrass Farms sued after the city bought the 13-acre site in 2007 and ultimately blocked the firm’s…
Stewart Goodyear Makes For A Good Year
P ianist Stewart Goodyear made his debut with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in 2004 with an electrifying performance of Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. He’s been back twice, but this weekend Goodyear returns not only as a soloist, but as a featured composer. The CSO will perform his fanfare Count Up, commissioned by…
Onstage: MamLuft&Co. Homecoming
Although dance serves as a universal language that can bring people together and foster community, it can also reflect myriad differences among people and cultures. A real-life personal pilgrimage inspired Cincinnati-based modern dance ensemble MamLuft&Co. Dance’s Homecoming, presented at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Aronoff Center’s Jarson-Kaplan Theater (650 Walnut St., Downtown). Last year, Founding…
When Art and Nature Collide
I run into people who don’t like museums because they say they prefer nature’s beauty to art. That comment is wrong-headed and shortsighted on so many levels — and I say that as someone who likes nature. First of all, nature can operate so mysteriously that it needs an artist to express to us the…
Coffee Party Bucks Status Quo
A fledgling political group has slowly been gaining membership in Greater Cincinnati by organizing rallies and meetings where they try to hold local politicians accountable and ask citizens how they can reform their government. Founded in March 2010, the Cincinnati Coffee Party is a nonpartisan grassroots organization that questions the policies of government and strives…
Great Young Hunters (Profile)
E mptying change jars, digging through couch cushions, turning pockets inside out, shining a flashlight under the fridge hoping to retrieve a lost quarter from yesteryear — some bands will do anything to get into the recording studio. Rounding up some money to lay down a few tracks is a rite of passage nowadays. For…
With Much Fanfare
W ithout much fanfare — well, actually, with fanfare — the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (CSO) has played a key role in the shaping of American popular culture as we know it. That’s the contention made — a bit indirectly — by Sean Wilentz, a Princeton University professor, in his recent book Bob Dylan in America.…
Events: Cin City Reptile Show
For some people, Fido just isn’t fun. And some don’t think Boots the cat isn’t that cuddly. They prefer something a bit more exotic, preferably with more scales and legs-optional. Lucky for these cold-blooded collectors, the Cin City Reptile Show, Inc. is continuing its immensely successful reptile exhibition Sunday, this time in a new, larger…
The Painted Fish (Review)
A sian fusion restaurants seem to be in fashion lately, and The Painted Fish in Northside has thrown its hat into the ring with modern décor and an eclectic menu. The Fish has transformed the former Gajah Wong West space into a hip environment where the dining soundtrack is Passion Pit and the sushi chef…
Onstage: Julius Caesar
By coincidence, I’ve been watching on DVD the HBO series Rome, about the rise and fall of Julius Caesar and the politics that swirled around his reign over the Empire and led to his assassination. If you haven’t seen this particular historical re-creation, I’ll mention that two women play very significant roles: Caesar’s scheming niece…
Church of Rock
Locals hope to renovate an OtR church into a music space including a school and large concert hall.
City Council Overhauls Pension System
I n an effort to fortify Cincinnati’s ailing retirement system for municipal workers, City Council narrowly approved a package of reforms March 16 aimed at reversing the system’s current course toward a projected $1 billion shortfall. In a 5-4 vote, City Council approved reforms that stiffen eligibility requirements, reduce some benefits and increase the retirement…
Bootsy on TV with The Roots TONIGHT
One of the best things about Jimmy Fallon’s late night show is when house band The Roots performs with a special guest sitting in throughout the program, especially when the guest is seemingly from a different musical universe (like Metal guitar god Yngwie Malmsteen). But, given his bottom-end work on classic Funk tracks (and, thanks…
