Art: Green Spaces at ArtWorks
It’s been a couple of months since ArtWorks has used its gallery space for a fully formed and promoted exhibition, so it is with building anticipation that we look forward to GREEN SPACES: Every Day is Earth Day. The environmentally themed exhibition acts as an additional platform to present the work of artists from Visionaries…
Art: Textalgia at Artisans Enterprise Center
Textalgia, the current exhibition at the Covington Artisans Enterprise Center through April 16, might have come up with a new word that someday will rival “blog” or “locovore” in popularity — “textalgia,” we are told, refers to “eliciting or displaying of nostalgia through the exploration of textures.” I can't find a reference to it anywhere…
Dance: CCM Winter Dance Concert
There are compelling reasons to see this season’s Winter Concert presented by CCM’s Dance Division: fresh, original works created by emerging choreographic voices of CCM’s dance majors and guest choreographer and Butoh artist Maureen Fleming’s group restaging of her seminal solo work “The Immortal Rose.” She’s recreated the ethereal, multi-media piece for nine dancers who…
Onstage: Bent
Given that New Stage Collective (NSC) has made its mark in several recent seasons with scripts that still have fresh ink, it might come as a surprise that its next production, Martin Sherman’s Bent, first came to an off-Broadway stage back to 1978, and then to London. But here we are, almost three decades after…
Music: Edie Sedgwick
Given how celebrity obsessed our culture has become, you could rightfully call the music of Justin Moyer’s Edie Sedgwick project “Folk” music. Though Moyer might be the first Folk artist to dress in drag and strut around on stage singing Disco/Electro songs about famous people. (Woody Guthrie would have looked awesome in high heels.) With…
Sports: TNA Wrestling
At the height of its mainstream popularity a decade ago and recently troubled by associations with enhancement drugs and early deaths, pro wrestling appears to be on unsteady terrain on which to build a company in 2009. Nashville-based Total Nonstop Action (TNA), however, is a rapidly thriving promotion that is intent on sticking with wrestling…
Dance: Small Streams-2
Small Streams-2, the newest offering from Cincinnati Choreographers’ Collective this weekend at Contemporary Dance Theater’s College Hill Dance Hall, features the diverse work of eight highly regarded choreographers in two full-length evening performances. Just another reminder that whatever happens in the world around them, it seems that a significant handful of dance artists in Cincinnati…
Events: St. Patrick’s Day Parade
I guess when a major drinking holiday falls on a weekday, all festivities must be moved to the weekend, so hooray for everyone because St. Patrick’s Day is coming early this year. That means you won’t have to call in “sick” on Wednesday while you’re barfing up green beer. Start drinking Saturday at 11 a.m.…
Dance: Exhale Dance Tribe’s Collection Complete
No matter what Exhale Dance Tribe presents you can count on seeing talented, spirited young women performing their hearts out. In case you missed Exhale’s single-night show in the Aronoff’s Jarson-Kaplan Theater just after the holidays, you can catch them in fine form at the Anderson Center. A single show Saturday night at 8 p.m.…
Music: Kottonmouth Kings
There's no other way to cut it: the Kottonmouth Kings love marijuana, and they do it as unabashedly and as loudly as legally possible. They have songs like “We Got the Chronic,” “Proud to be a Stoner,” and “Where's the Weed At.” Album titles include 1998's Royal Highness, 2000's High Society, 2002's Rollin' Stoned and…
Events: Cincinnati Wine Festival
The 2009 Cincinnati Wine Festival will be held Thursday through Saturday at the Duke Energy Center with over 100 wineries set to attend. Whether you consider yourself a connoisseur or just an intrigued beginner, there will be more than 600 wines available for tasting so that everyone is certain to find the bottle that suits…
Music: Pomegranates CD Release/MPMF Party
Pomegranates’ new album, Everybody, Come Outside! could be considered a concept album … to a point. “We had a vision, and we were a little more focused on the second one, not because of the press so much as just having a better vision,” says Merritt. “I’m not really sure what made us decide, but…
Music: Hollywood Undead
The past few months have been a blur for Hollywood Undead. The SoCal Rap Metal sextet celebrated their A&M/Octone debut, ironically titled Swan Song, last September and promptly took the show that made them one of the Hollywood club scene’s hottest draws to a national audience. Hollywood Undead began as high school friends (Johnny, J-Dog,…
Lit: Jodi Picoult, Fred Krakowiak and Charles B. Flood
Local literary haven Joseph-Beth Booksellers hosts a trio of intriguing authors this week. Prolific best-selling novelist Jodi Picoult stops by 7 p.m. Thursday in support of her latest, Handle With Care, the story of a popular pastry chef who gives birth to a daughter with osteogenesis imperfecta — a collagen defect that causes brittle bones.…
Comedy: Auggie Smith
“When I was younger, I used to write a lot more angry material,” says comedian Auggie Smith. “Everything wrong with society.” He has since mellowed out. “As you get older you just kind of want everybody to be OK with everybody else, so now I write angry rants about other people’s anger and how that…
Lectures: An Evening with Garrison Keillor
For longtime public radio aficionados, one man’s laid-back voice and gently satiric humor are the instantly recognizable symbols of NPR entertainment. Of course, I’m talking about Garrison Keillor, who brings his tender timbre and wry wit to Oxford for Miami University’s Bicentennial Celebration on Wednesday. The Prairie Home Companion host and bestselling author will appear…
Art: Spit & Peanut Shells at Country Club
Documentary photographer Cheryl Dunn doesn’t flinch from the gritty, difficult side of life, as suggested by the title of her current show Spit & Peanut Shells: American Pictures at Country Club gallery. “My pictures are pretty in your face,” she says. “I’m always taking pictures of people living on the street, for instance. I’m really…
Get 25 Free Resumes from Kinko’s Today
It's not exactly a stimulus package, but every little bit helps. Today only, FedEx Office (a.k.a. Kinko's) will print up to 25 copies of your resume for free.—- You can bring in a physical copy to a location near you or submit a digital file online. The offer is good all day long. Check it…
Wussy’s Latest Is Their Greatest
Scoring major glowing reviews in national music magazines for your first two albums might intimidate some artists. But for Wussy, set to release its newest (a self-titled effort) for locally-based Shake It Records, a natural progression and tightness has resulted in their best album yet.—- The brilliant Wussy will get “CD release partied” Friday at…
M Squad: The Complete Series
This is a major find for connoisseurs of adult-oriented classic TV, a tough-minded noir-style cop show from the 1950s that was naturalistic and hard-nosed and featured evocative black-and-white cinematography and on-location urban settings. It also had mean-street stories without sentimentality or kitsch. M Squad starred one of the best actors possible for its subject: no-nonsense,…
The Founding of America
This box set collects virtually every documentary and movie about the American Revolution shown by The History Channel over the past few years. Anchored by the documentaries Founding Fathers and Founding Brothers, no historical stone is left unturned and no angle left unexamined. The documentaries are predominantly told by historians and enhanced with re-enactments and…
Ashes of Time Redux
The original 1994 version of Ashes of Time is probably the least well known of Hong Kong master Wong Kar Wai’s nine feature films. There are numerous reasons for this: its batshit, inscrutable narrative; its lack of a proper theatrical release in the U.S.; and the need for a definitive DVD being at the top…
See the Watchmen on YouTube
Here it is. See it uncut and in the comfort of your own home. Well, sorta.
Vaginal Spelunking and the Days o’ Yore
Last week I randomly found myself bending over and examining my crotchal region from behind in the bathroom mirror. Well, and my sphincter region, if we’re being honest. This newfangled vaginal narcissism was all spawned from a recent conversation with my good friend Leroy over drinks at NST, where most ridiculousness o’ this ilk begins.—-…
Watchmen (Review)
Will the fanboys unite behind “visionary” Zack Snyder’s adaptation of the Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons graphic novel Watchmen, listed as one of Time magazine’s 100 Best English-Language Novels since 1923? That will likely depend on how faithful the fans feel the vision is to the graphic frame — although some might argue over the liberties taken…
Neko Case, Justin Townes Earle, Soundtrack of Our Lives, Ian McLagan and Much More
This is the biggest week for releases since the first of the year, at least in terms of sheer quantity. When release weeks stack up like this in the future, I might have to push a few titles to weeks when there is slightly less to cover, just to relieve a little of the stress…
Let the Right One In (Review)
Hot on the heels of Catherine Hardwicke’s slick, teen-friendly vampire flick Twilight comes Let the Right One In, a subtle, subversive take on the genre from Swedish filmmaker Tomas Alfredson that aptly illustrates the vast artistic gulf between (much of) American and world cinema. (Yes, a U.S. remake is already in the works.) Oskar (Kare…
Friday Movie Roundup: Zoo Crews, Watchmen and Vampires
While I recognize and appreciate the undeniable creative juice expended in their creation, I admit to a blind spot when it comes to comic books (aka graphic novels to the genre’s serious devotees). I outgrew the form shortly after the death of Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew, which went out of print after…
Stage Door: Timon of Athens and Eurydice
Something old, something new. This weekend gives you a chance for either — or both, if your appetite for interesting theater is hungry this time of year. Cincinnati Shakespeare Company is currently presenting one of the Bard's lesser known plays, TIMON OF ATHENS. —- It's rarely staged; this is the first time in CSC's 15-year…
Events: Cincinnati Home and Garden Show
The 2009 Fifth Third Bank Cincinnati Home & Garden Show is showing off more than just a green thumb. Most of the vendors and exhibits will feature environmentally friendly products, services and designs during the March 4-8 event. Chip and Vickie Hart of Hart Productions, this year’s show managers, say the “green theme” was easily…
Art: The Art of Food at The Carnegie
Nick Tolbert of The Midnight Gourmet, a television show that teaches male viewers how to impress the ladies by cooking elegant, romantic dinners, all while wearing a tux and managing to keep it spotless, appears at the opening of The Art of Food at The Carnegie in Covington. Tolbert is filming pilot episodes this Spring…
‘For Some People It’s a Right’
At least one Republican lawmaker believes healthcare is a “privilege” and not a right, and that many people who don’t have access to healthcare choose to do so.—- During an appearance this morning on MSNBC, U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.) criticized President Obama’s recent budget proposal to expand the healthcare system in a move that…
The B@%*$ Project
The Cincinnati Banks Project is getting a new name! Since 1996 the plot of dirt between the two stadiums has been scheduled for a major facelift. Like most ideas that will bring Cincinnati into the future where a community is based around the city center instead of a Walmart, this one will probably fail. —-…
Strung Out
David Harrington, founder and leader of the world-famous — and world-traveled — Kronos Quartet, finds it hard to believe the group hasn’t played Cincinnati since 1987. Kronos will be the headliner for both nights of the MusicNOW festival March 11-12 at Memorial Hall in Over-the-Rhine. Now in its fourth year, the nonprofit festival is the…
Leveling Appalachia
Mountains explode and disappear all the time in the Appalachians. Mountaintop removal transforms small streams into raging torrents that sweep away houses several times a year and dumps arsenic, mercury, lead, copper and chromium into drinking water, some of which makes its way to Cincinnati. Coal companies reap huge profits from the process, which produces…
Universal Healthcare Doable If We Want It
If you were to ask most Americans, there’s little doubt that a sizeable majority would say overhauling the U.S. healthcare system is more important than bailing out the major banks. A recent study concluded that having the United States convert to a single-payer national health insurance system would result in a net increase in cost…
Covering Race, Closing a Paper and Photos of Caskets
Americans under age 50 probably would notice if a local news story starts off with “the black killer" or “the Jewish scam artist.” It’s a practice that largely died along with such conversational expressions as Paddy wagon, Welshing or Jewing, Polack, Dago, Spic, Coon, Wetback, etc. With rare exceptions — where race, ethnicity or religion…
The Thrill of the New
For some reason, February and March seem to be a time when many theaters go into creativity overdrive and produce new works. I recently attended the fourth annual Colorado New Play Summit, presented by the Denver Center Theatre Company, where I heard readings of four new scripts plus a revised version of Meredith Willson’s 1960…
Conservatives Take Unpatriotic Position
Al Franken was correct back in 1996 when he said Rush Limbaugh was a big fat idiot. A lot has changed in 13 years. Franken, for instance, is one court ruling away from becoming the junior U.S. Senator from Minnesota. No doubt sales of Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations helped…
Laughing and Crying With Uncle Al
It’s a world of laughter, a world of tears. Cincinnati is a small big town, which isn’t a huge problem because it’s a small world after all. Thanks, Uncle Al, for all the great memories not only for me but for so many Cincinnatians here now, long gone and never forgotten. You’re gone now, too,…
Music: Kings of Tragedy
MC Wonder Brown (of Scribbling Idiots) and MC Till teamed up last year amidst their numerous other projects to do some collabo tour dates as Kings of Tragedy. On Saturday, the duo will appear at Rohs Street Cafe in Clifton Heights to celebrate the release of their new self-titled full-length CD. Till’s beats and both…
Look Back, Then Forward
Look Back, Then ForwardI always look forward to Larry Gross’ Living Out Loud columns. Like a lot of them lately, “Mandolin Rain” (issue of Feb. 25) was a moving story. I can’t help but notice that in many of Gross’ columns he’s looking back at his life in trying to move forward. Being able to…
Only in Cincinnati
One look at Nick Tolbert’s life and the cynical line you often hear, “You just can’t get anything done in this city,” fades away. Eleven years ago Tolbert, known as The Midnight Gourmet to viewers of his public access cooking show, was sitting in an empty house in Northern Kentucky watching cable TV. In the…
The Rubber Knife Gang (Profile)
The Rubber Knife Gang is a trio of serious Roots/Bluegrass/Americana musicians who don’t happen to take themselves very seriously. Even their name evolved out of a joke. “The name came from this band of friends that get together on weekends and ride these 50CC Hondas,” says RKG stand-up bassist/vocalist John “Johnboy” Oaks. “My brother-in-law Scott…
A Cincinnati Treasure
Noel Martin, a lifelong Cincinnati painter and graphic-design pioneer, passed away Feb. 23 at the age of 86. In addition to formal training, Martin taught himself typography and graphics, and in doing so revolutionized museum publishing with his designs for the Cincinnati Art Museum (CAM) and his modern logo for the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC).…
The Venus 3, Morrissey, Tommy Keene and Gurf Morlix
The release sheets continue to fatten nicely, so there’s plenty to talk about this week. In fact, upcoming Tuesdays are so ripe with CD fruit I might have to push a few titles off until the weeks when things are a little bit lighter. Very few people on the planet have made or will ever…
RNC, Politics and Lennon
[HOT] You Down With the RNC?Republicans keep throwing everybody against the wall to see who sticks in terms of a revolutionary leader. Though a hypocritical radio blowhard seems to have emerged the winner, in the recent past the party has slung a plumber and a beauty queen/moose killer at the public to no avail. At…
Horse Drawn Downtown
It was damp and cold and my coat was thin, so I hurriedly scurried through Fountain Square. But when I saw the horse and carriage, I halted. My ears perked up. I’d never been on a carriage ride. Whenever I saw those horses, I thought about how they braved the Cincinnati streets, the concrete fields,…
Music: SXSW Send Off
They’ve spent the past couple of years working their orchestral Indie Pop magic to music fans and the music industry around the country, and now Bad Veins finally has a record label home. Leaked last week via Twitter, drummer Sebastien Schultz confirms that Bad Veins (pictured) are soon to become Dangerbird Records recording artists. (The…
Stewart Goldman: Presence Through Absence (Review)
Critic's Pick Solid curating and progressive notions have gone into the Cincinnati Art Museum’s new solo exhibition, Stewart Goldman: Presence Through Absence, in its Vance-Waddell Gallery now through May 10. Born and trained as an artist in Philadelphia, Goldman has been a resident of Cincinnati since 1968. For most of the time in Cincinnati, he…
Agent Orange with SS-20 and Liquid Limbs
Take the gloriously distorted melodies of Surf guitar legend Dick Dale and the virile grit of Punk iconoclasts the Dead Kennedys and throw them together into a blender set to its most violent setting. Once the appliance is finished working, the resulting mixture is bound to resemble the sound of Agent Orange, a band that…
Bad Veins Fly with Dangerbird, Plus New CDs from Kings of Tragedy and Illshot
They’ve spent the past couple of years working their orchestral Indie Pop magic to music fans and the music industry around the country, and now Bad Veins finally has a record label home. Leaked last week via Twitter, drummer Sebastien Schultz confirms that Bad Veins (pictured) are soon to become Dangerbird Records recording artists. (The…
Another Seven Days of Meeting Jindal and Needing Garbage
WEDNESDAY FEB. 25 President Obama addressed Congress on Tuesday with a summary of America’s many problems, but instead of Wednesday’s headlines reading “Obama, America Totally F´d” they read “Jindal, Republicans Look Stupid.” The distraction from reality was brought on by Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who responded to Obama´s address by giving a terrible speech that…
Shovels at the Ready
Now that Congress has passed a $787 billion economic stimulus package sought by President Obama, it remains to be decided how the local portion of that money will be spent. One thing is for sure, though: There’s no shortage of ideas about what to do with it. Get ready for a flood of numbers, all…
From Page to Screen
Director Zack Snyder’s reputation from box-office smash 300 and a much-publicized court skirmish over the rights to his latest film, Watchmen, has generated a lot of hype, getting mainstream moviegoers interested and whipping comic-book fanboys into a frenzy. Watchmen surfaced in the mid-1980s as a 12-part monthly comic book from creators Alan Moore and Dave…
The Latest in Foodie World
From the local to the global, here’s what’s happening in foodie world. Restaurant Week, sponsored by The Greater Cincinnati Independents Group, will run March 16-22. Twenty-six restaurants will be part of the action, offering a three-course prix-fixe dinner menu for $26.09 per person. Some casual restaurants are offering dinner for two for only $26.09. This…
More Than Kid Stuff
Presuming that reports about Disney's High School Musical wouldn't interest CityBeat's readers, I've not previously written about that popular phenomenon, driven by repeated airing on the Disney Channel. And I'm still not certain that it's of that much interest to anyone who regularly reads this blog. But I went to see High School Musical 2…
