Enquirer Profits from Trademark Flap
Anyone who looked at the front page of today's Cincinnati Enquirer saw a prominent advertisement along the bottom featuring an image of a treasure chest and announcing, “Roadshow is in town all week in Cincinnati!” To the uninitiated, it might appear as if the popular TV show Antiques Roadshow is taping an episode in the…
St. Patrick’s Day: Saint Patrick’s Day Parade
What’s green and orange and never cancels? Cincinnati’s Saint Patrick’s Day Parade! Started in 1967 as a religious procession, this parade quickly turned into a citywide party. Since then, it's become a true parade with street closings, floats, pipers, step dancers, Irish families, marching bands and more. The action starts early (6 a.m.) with kegs…
Hip Hop (Un)Scene: Smells Like Scene Spirit
Last week I proclaimed MySpace dead. A lot of people agreed, others didn’t. Maybe I was right, maybe I was wrong. To its credit, I will say that MySpace taught me a valuable lesson. Way back in 2005, as I would get friend requests I'd always look at a person’s musical preferences. Most of the…
Music: This Moment in Black History
A few years back, I nonchalantly wondered into a local gay bar where a handful of drag queens were raising money for one of the club regulars’ sick dog. Believe it or not, the night got blissfully weirder. Following a set from the local headliners, the crowd dwindled considerably but suddenly the bar seemed to…
Events: project cincinnatiUS
Selecting Ethan Philbrick as one of the last Cincinnati Individual Artist Grant recipients has proven to be a wise move: Philbrick uses dance and performance as tools for activism and social engagement in a seemingly perpetual succession of new works. This Saturday, Findlay Market — as socially blended an area of our local culture as…
St. Patrick’s Day: O’Nati’s Irish Pub
What if you don’t feel like getting a beer at 6 a.m.? Is there any way to salvage your Saint Patrick’s Day? Of course, with O’Nati’s Irish Pub. What’s O’Nati’s Irish Pub? Glad you asked. It’s a once-a-year Irish pub that takes over Fountain Square with live music, food and fun (including booze). This year's…
Woe Is Me (Review)
Critic's Pick In desperate need of a sit-down meal at your Southern Grandma’s house? Comfort food to soothe your soul? A pit stop at Woe Is Me/Three Boys & Stella Barbeque might be just what the doctor ordered. Armed with a smoker and her 97-year-old grandmother’s recipes, Rhonda Royster and her family have a simple…
Oscars: On Second Thought
Here’s an early prediction on the Best Pictures nominees for next year’s Academy Awards: There will only be five. The great experiment in “widening the playing field” — expanding the number of nominees to 10 this year — turned out to be a complete dud. It dragged down the three-plus-hour telecast. At times, when clips…
CD Release Parties, Katie Laur on Bluegrass, Indie Rock in the Burbs and More
• In addition to our "cover boys" this week, The Lions Rampant, three other local acts will be out this weekend hosting release parties for their latest recording projects. On Friday at Silverton’s Play By Play Café, Progressive/Hard Rock band Livid (pictured, www.lividband.com) unveils its debut CD, Aoaé. The 9 p.m. show also features Noctaluca.…
She’s Out of My League (Review)
For a guy straight out of central casting for a real Kevin Smith film (which Fanboys should have been with its Star Wars love and his all-too-brief cameo) or one of the Judd Apatow bromantic factory projects (Knocked Up), skinny geek Jay Baruchel certainly has the potential to be more than a dark-haired clone of…
Onstage: Exhale Dance Tribe
Whether you missed this physically mesmerizing company of 11 lithe young women in Binocular in January at the Aronoff Center or just want to exhale winter and the record breaking snows of February, take yourself to The Anderson Center Friday night for Exhale Dance Tribe’s funny, sensual, explosive and sometimes serious Look Closer. As usual,…
St. Patrick’s Day: Celtic Lands Culture Fest
Grab your passports and join the Cincinnati Museum and K12, an online learning organization, to celebrate the Celtic Lands Culture Fest. This year the Cincinnati Museum’s annual “Passport to the World” series features a Celtic marketplace with authentic merchandise and goods, a “Celtic Forest” that includes sing-a-long songs, stories and many more family-friendly activities. A…
This Moment in Black History
A few years back, I nonchalantly wondered into a local gay bar where a handful of drag queens were raising money for one of the club regulars’ sick dog. Believe it or not, the night got blissfully weirder. Following a set from the local headliners, the crowd dwindled considerably, but suddenly the bar seemed to…
CitiRama Goes Green
Situated just uphill from Northside’s central business district, an excavation site of 36 empty lots is soon to become the place many folks will call home. The Rockford Woods subdivision has reached phase two of development, meaning that the time has come for homebuilders to turn the remaining empty spaces into humble abodes by kicking…
Running Rampant
Any band with touring experience has more than a few road tales, and The Lions Rampant have their share. When vocalist/guitarist Stuart MacKenzie observes that he and bandmates Nick Vogelpohl (bass) and Nate Wagner (drums) should write a book, they prove that oft-spoken assertion with some bawdy epics that would hold Mick Jagger’s interest and…
Onstage: Becky’s New Car
As the weather begins to improve, our thoughts turn to spring and things like new cars (or at least ones that aren’t covered in salt). How about a new play, too? This week Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati offers a show that’s just three years old, originating in a hit production in Seattle. Some critics are…
Going, Going, Almost Gone
Previously I only felt bombarded by car commercials. Now I feel inundated by real estate newspaper ads, billboards and even bus stop waiting benches telling me I have to sign up for the home buying tax credit before it’s too late. But thanks to a 1-year-old son, a hectic job and a traveling partner, I…
Music: Rodrigo y Gabriela
There aren’t many instances where the phrases “Folk Rock,” “Latin Rock,” “Thrash Metal” and “acoustic guitars” are diagrammed in the same sentence. But Rodrigo y Gabriela have always been adept at defying convention. The duo’s newest album 11:11, released last fall to overwhelming acclaim, features their trademark percussive rhythms and intricate leads that reference both…
Lectures/Onstage: Karen Finley
Karen Finley, the New York-based performance artist who will be at the University of Cincinnati Wednesday to present her latest piece, “The Jackie Look,” isn't satisfied with operating in a single field. Her unique, wordy performances blithely overstep the lines between fine art, theater, literature and social anthropology. She's willing to try an idea or…
Music: St. Patrick’s Day Celebration featuring Deer Tick
Deer Tick coalesced in John McCauley III’s Providence, R.I., bedroom five years ago. After discovering Hank Williams, the 18-year-old dissolved his duo project, My Other Face, and went camping to contemplate his future. As McCauley resolved to start an actual band, he found a deer tick embedded in his scalp; he christened his newly envisioned…
Keeping Warm and Toasty
Despite logging record cold and snowfall this winter, many of us might still be yearning for the comfort of a crackling fire and hot cup of cocoa. Sorry to say, making cocoa is fairly simple; providing a warm crackling fire, especially in a prohibitive home, apartment or condo, well, that’s a bit more challenging. But…
Events: Cincinnati International Wine Festival
It’s a big drinkin’ week for the 513 with more than several Saint Patrick’s Day events lined up along with the city’s annual celebration of drinking with class, the Cincinnati Wine Festival. This year’s honorary chair is Michael Mondavi, and he’ll be helping the festival celebrate 20 years of winery dinners, grand tastings and charity…
It’s a Doggy Dog World
As the snow melts away and the first signs of spring begin to erupt from the cold earth, it’s time to start thinking about long walks with your four-legged best friend. Dogs are an irrepressible source of joy and companionship, but if you live in an urban environment there are a few issues you should…
Hope and Glory at the CAC
When it was announced last year that Shepard Fairey’s traveling solo show Supply and Demand would stop at Cincinnati’s Contemporary Arts Center, it immediately seemed a masterstroke for the museum. As intelligent and beautiful as recent CAC exhibitions by Anri Sala and C. Spencer Yeh have been, they’ve also been challenging — asking us to…
Music: The Lions Rampant
The Lions Rampant's new album, It’s Fun to Do Bad Things, features snarling, primal Garage Rock with extra helpings of deep fried Soul. It was completed last winter, and the band was playing a scant few new songs live to keep it under wraps while they pursued a record deal. It was a longer process…
Art: Essential Oils, and … at The Barn
Six artists help fight off winter doldrums with a show called Essential Oils, and… opening Friday at The Barn, the Woman’s Art Club Cultural Center in Mariemont. Color is key for four Cincinnati-based painters — Donna Talerico, Carolyn Muller, Ron Johnson and Jan Boone — as well as to former area residents Tim Folzenlogen (now…
Karen Finley Does Jackie O
Karen Finley, the New York-based performance artist who will be at the University of Cincinnati Wednesday to present her latest piece, “The Jackie Look,” isn't satisfied with operating in a single field. Her unique, wordy performances blithely overstep the lines between fine art, theater, literature and social anthropology. She's willing to try an idea or…
Comedy: Steve Byrne
How does a comedian top an acclaimed special? He tries to make the next one even better and the one after that better still. That’s where Steve Byrne finds himself in 2010. This summer Comedy Central will air The Byrne Identity, his second hour for that network. He’s spending the rest of this year working…
St. Patrick’s Day Celebration featuring Deer Tick and More
Deer Tick coalesced in John McCauley III’s Providence, R.I., bedroom five years ago. After discovering Hank Williams, the 18-year-old dissolved his duo project, My Other Face, and went camping to contemplate his future. As McCauley resolved to start an actual band, he found a deer tick embedded in his scalp; he christened his newly envisioned…
Rodrigo y Gabriela
There aren’t many instances where the phrases “Folk Rock,” “Latin Rock,” “Thrash Metal” and “acoustic guitars” are diagrammed in the same sentence. But Rodrigo y Gabriela have always been adept at defying convention. Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero met in the late ’90s in Mexico City while entrenched in a Metal band called Tierra Acida…
GOP: Pay Up, Suckers
Carl Lindner and Richard Farmer, are you paying attention? In an exclusive at the Politico Web site this week, reporters obtained a copy of a confidential PowerPoint presentation created by the Republican National Committee about how it intends on raising money during this election cycle.—- The document describes wealthy donors as “ego-driven” who can be…
Alice in Wonderland (Review)
It’s expected that a 2009 adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Victorian-era Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass would engage in some major contemporary revisionism, and the biggest change in Tim Burton’s new 3-D movie version is to make Alice the kind of defiantly strong-willed, proto-feminist, no-nonsense action-hero suitable for a PG-rated action-fantasy seeking to…
John Hiatt, Robert Pollard, Rogue Wave, Brian Jonestown Massacre and More
This is a bittersweet time of year for me. I’m obviously pleased to be as pathologically busy as I am (it beats the poverty-straddling alternative), but there's a tinge of sadness as another South By Southwest music festival/conference that I won’t be attending looms on the horizon. My three Austin visits — 2004, 2005 and…
March for Native Life Tonight
A weekend-long Vigil for Native Life kicks off tonight downtown with a march starting at City Hall at 7 p.m. and proceeding to the William Henry Harrison monument in Piatt Park at Elm Street and Garfield Place. Participants will also visit the Hamilton County Courthouse before finishing at burial mound sites near Fountain Square.—- Participants…
Stage Door: The How and the Why
If you're looking for a theatrical change of pace this weekend, you might want to check out How? How? Why? Why? Why? at the Cincinnati Playhouse (check out Julie York Coppens review here). You'll hear some intriguing thoughts from Kevin Kling, a regular NPR commentator, about his life, his past and the nature of happiness.…
Friday Movie Roundup: Oscar Baiting
The 82nd Academy Awards telecast is Sunday night. Will you be watching? Yes, I will again succumb to its guilty pleasures, no doubt groaning every 10 minutes or so at the lavish, self-important nature of it all (please don’t let James Cameron win — the only thing worse than his creepy, flowing gray hair is…
CS13 Extends Deadline for Grant Application
CS13 gallery in Over-the-Rhine has extended until this Monday proposals for its March 14th Creative Economy Grant Dinner. Participants are asked to submit a one-paragraph proposal for why they want an arts grant. Then, at the $10-per-person dinner, attendees will vote on the best proposal and all dinner proceeds will go to that person. The…
Playhouse Premiere Up for National Award
The American Theatre Critics Association announced March 3 that Michele Lowe's world premiere play Victoria Musica, presented last fall at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, is one of six finalists for the Steinberg/American Theatre Critics Association New Play Award. The award and two citations will be presented later this month at Actors Theatre of Louisville…
The Ghost Writer (Review)
It’s a big deal when Martin Scorsese and Roman Polanski release mystery thrillers at the same time. Coincidentally, both Shutter Island and The Ghost Writer are set on islands and begin with the arrival of a boat coming directly into the frame. The Ghost Writer draws the short straw against Scorsese’s stronger effort, but that's…
The 39 Steps (Review)
Critic's Pick Sometimes the best comedy comes from being dead serious. We learned from Monty Python that no matter how silly those fellows were in word or action they seldom cracked a smile. That’s a fundamental reason why The 39 Steps is a raucously funny evening in the theater: Four actors are deadly earnest, even…
CCV All Aflutter About DADT Repeal
A notorious ultra-right Sharonville group is urging its followers to write their Congressional representatives and let them know they oppose the repeal of the U.S. military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy.—- Citizens for Community Values (CCV) recently sent a mass e-mail to its supporters issuing a call to action about a possible DADT repeal proposed…
Media Watchdog Returns
The Internet’s strange allure can’t be resisted. First, local blogger and veteran journalist Bill Sloat decided to revive his excellent Daily Bellwether blog after an absence of several months, once again offering his fresh take on news around Ohio’s major cities. Now Jim Hopkins has brought back his insightful Gannett Blog, offering news, analysis and…
Art Damage 25th Anniversary Series
Art Damage, the influential radio show/performance space/experimental music-supporting collective, turns 25 years old this year, and throughout the next 365 days the group will be celebrating with a variety of events and concerts that explore the boundaries of the sonic arts. The festivities kick off this weekend at the Art Damage Lodge (4120 Hamilton Ave.,…
YouTube Takedowns, Apple Downloads and ‘Vain’
[HOT] UNIVERSAL TAKEDOWN The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which fights for “civil rights” on the Internet, struck a blow for all parents who want to videotape their toddlers dancing to inappropriate songs when it got a judge to agree a woman was owed money after having a 29-second clip yanked from YouTube. The decision is believed…
Jan’s Chinese (Review)
Jan’s Chinese isn’t exactly new. It used to be called “Casual Wok and Grille” and it’s still tucked into the same unassuming, half-empty strip mall off Montgomery Road. The name change honors new head chef HJ Jan, a picture of whom dominates the entry vestibule like a broadly grinning Iron Chef. In the next area,…
What a Long Strange Trip It’s Been
Once there was a middle-aged woman who found herself single at fortysomething. She joined Single Parent organizations, met people before the dawn of the scanner and picture exchanges and survived the resultant trauma. She allowed well-meaning friends and family to set her up with people they just knew were perfect for her. She wondered how…
Bright Star (Review)
Jane Campion’s love letter to the brief but passionate romance between poet John Keats (Ben Whishaw) and his neighbor Fanny Brawne (Abbie Cornish) does its best to combat the inherent limitations of the biopic genre, breathing life into characters whose unfortunate fates are known from the get-go. Much of the credit goes to Cornish (hey,…
Dutch Utopia (Review)
Windmills, wooden clogs and tulip mania — that which we consider quintessentially Dutch might have a little something to do with American nostalgia. The Taft Museum of Art explores America’s fascination with the Netherlands in Dutch Utopia: American Artists in Holland, 1880-1914. Artists found their way from America to Holland during the latter half of…
The Crazies (Review)
Star presence can sweep audiences up and carry them on a X-Games-styled thrill-ride that otherwise would barely generate a disturbance in a kiddie wave pool. And the charismatic leads don’t have to be of the blockbusting, A-list variety — often a solid B-lister or two can make us believe. Such is the case with Timothy…
The Little Book Of Absinthe (Review)
It might be looked upon as a book of cocktail recipes for connoisseurs of underground history or perhaps a lurid history book for those looking for a harder ride than Gentleman Jack can offer. The Little Green Book of Absinthe: An Essential Companion with Lore, Trivia and Classic and Contemporary Cocktails has many faces —…
Strickland and Brinkman
[WINNER] GOV. TED STRICKLAND: A poll last week found Strickland regaining the lead over Republican challenger John Kasich. The Quinnipiac University poll showed the incumbent Democrat back on top by five points, 44-39 percent. Also, the poll showed most voters favoring the job Strickland was doing as governor, 48-40 percent. That’s good news because the…
The Honneycombs and Other News
• A long-distance-relationship band with local ties will become not-so-long-distance this weekend as they team up for a few CD release events in the area. The trio is called Honneycombs and features local singer/songwriter April Combs, her L.A.-based brother, guitarist/singer/songwriter James Combs (the Combs siblings were members of the popular AltRock band Arson Garden in…
City Hall Is All Talk, No Action on Ex-Felons
Even if you’re the most passionate “get tough on crime” supporter, it’s in everyone’s best interests that criminals have a reasonable opportunity to find a decent job after they’ve served their debt to society. The sad fact, however, is that if a felon is honest when filling out an employment application and admits to his…
Cop Out (Review)
Kevin Smith teams up with Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan to do a stand-up riff on buddy pictures in the action-crime genre, and the guys are game jokesters all. Smith has plugged into the pre-release hype machine with his humorous spin on being ejected from an airline flight for his size — a topic he…
Losing Lucy
Michele Hobbs is drowning in paper. She does her best to sort, file and label it, but each passing month brings more. Two years of litigation have left her with reams. The transcript to a single day of trial fills a binder 3 inches thick. Pre-trial depositions fill folders of their own. Anxiously awaited court…
The Melting Season (Review)
In Jami Attenberg’s second novel, Catherine Madison is in her truck heading to Las Vegas. She’s leaving her small Nebraska town, her husband and her dysfunctional family. What she’s keeping is a suitcase full of money. From the start, we realize Catherine is running from something. She’s paying for motel and hotel rooms in cash…
Feb. 24-March 2: Worst Week Ever!
WEDNESDAY FEB. 24 If you’ve ever ridden a train, chances are it’s because your car broke down and you needed to get a little closer to your destination before your friends would pick you up in a car that actually worked. And even though Corning, Calif., was a lovely place to drink whiskey by yourself…
Music: Art Damage 25th Anniversary Series
Art Damage, the influential radio show/performance space/experimental music-supporting collective, turns 25 years old this year, and throughout the next 365 days the group will be celebrating with a variety of events and concerts that explore the boundaries of the sonic arts. The festivities kick off this weekend at the Art Damage Lodge with a two-night…
Music: Lagniappe
After two decades of entertaining local audiences (and earning multiple Cincinnati Entertainment Awards nominations) with a brilliantly swinging and stylistically improbable blend of Cajun, Zydeco, Gypsy Jazz, Dixieland, Tin Pan Alley and more, Lagniappe finally got around to recording their debut CD last year (an unofficial 1990 cassette and 1997 demo notwithstanding). Titled after an…
