Locals Only: :sweet ‘honey’ in the rock scene
Bastion "Sorry about the porn and shit, hopefully you got enough info for an article," read drummer Greg Slone's e-mail the day after our interview. Admittedly, their creative methods of expediting rapport were successful, but no amount of girl-on-girl action can establish the brotherly bonds that the core members of Bastion share. Ten years ago,…
Are Some Happy With UC’s Decline?
I'm not a big fan of UC's basketball team, but the cutting down of a good coach and teacher grates on me ("Thuggish Basketball Program Bogs Down UC's Larger Mission," issue of May 18-24). His delayed downfall was predictable, however, because he never really "fit" what Cincinnati "leaders" and "wannabe leaders" like to see in…
Viable GOPtions
Republicans weren't happy. But then, like iguanas and Klingons, they never are. Their latest bit of misery flowed from Senate Democrats' willingness to use the filibuster (or the threat of it) to block a few of President Bush's more objectionable (read: right-wingiest) judicial nominations. So, to remedy this intolerable situation, they hatched a plan, a…
NOISES OFF
Kevin McCollum (CCM, Class of '84), who produced Rent, will speak at UC's commencement in June. Fans of UC's College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) await the annual announcement of musicals, dramas and operas to be produced on the main stages with eager anticipation, and I suspect they weren't disappointed this year. Although the three programs don't…
Beat It
Do I have to beat this into you? Republican Cincinnati City Councilman Sam Malone got elected on a platform of black-on-black violence. Over grainy, closed-circuit images of black thugs looting and pillaging Over-the-Rhine bodegas in faux caged bird homage to Timothy Thomas and Officer Stephen Roach, Malone vowed in 2003 to stomp out race-based bullying…
Jools Holland
HOT See Ya, Later Cheers to Ovation for airing episodes of the excellent, classic Brit music/chat television show Later ´ With Jools Holland. A curious music fan's dream, Later's groovy, somewhat brainy house party vibe is uniquely creative in approach. The eclectic musical lineups on each episode feature acts that have little in common with…
Music: The New ‘Grass in Town
Though once die-hard Bluegrass traditionalists, Jim and Jennie and The Pinetops shake things up with their progressive new release, Rivers Roll On By. Jim Krewson and Jennie Benford are unlikely revolutionaries. They are mild mannered, good humored and easygoing folks, not wild-eyed dogmatists bent on the overthrow of tradition and the status quo. And yet…
Living Out Loud: : One Day at a Time
"You have such a pretty face, Heather. If you could just lose that extra weight, you would be so attractive." Diane, my co-worker, sounds like she's trying to complement me yet I feel so low that I expect Richard Simmons to bust through a wall like the Kool-Aid Man and save my fat ass. "Yeah,…
Upcoming Concert Reviews of the Killers, Porcupine Tree and More…
Louis XIV Louis XIV with The Killers Thursday · The Madison Theater Louis XIV is a dirty little slut of a band. And that's just the way they like it. San Diego's Louis XIV — before they rolled around in liquid eyeliner, flavored condoms and used fetish-wear — were originally part of the Roots rocking…
Diner: Dial Down the Horsepower
Restaurants are like relationships — it's all about the right fit. Midway through dinner at Parkers Blue Ash Grill on a recent Friday, I realized that things between Parkers and me really weren't working out: There just wasn't any chemistry. I know it's shallow — beauty, I'm told, is more than skin deep — but…
Jason Ludwig -Noctaluca
Jason Ludwig – Noctaluca The Record That Changed My Life Soundgarden — Superunknown The arrangements are deceptively complex and airtight; Kim Thayil invents notes that had not previously existed on this planet; Ben Shepherd stirs bass melodies like black tar in a honey pot; and then, strewn across this vast and beautifully twisted wasteland of…
Web Gems
A couple of locally based acts have released new EPs, but you won't find them at your favorite local-music friendly retailer (at least not yet). The releases are only available in cyberspace, enabling the artists to get the music out more easily (skipping the pesky and costly manufacturing and duplication phase of CD production) and…
United They Stand, but Is England’s Model Soccer Club Due for a Fall?
Manchester United ended an empty season of dreadful reconstituence May 21, losing England's FA Cup final to hated rival Arsenal despite mostly dominating the game. No one scored in regulation time, and United lost its last final as the people's football club in a 5-4 shootout defeat. Ordinarily, ownership changes in professional sports are mostly…
Hip Hop vs. Rap
"Rap is something you do; Hip Hop is something you live." KRS-One, "Hip Hop vs. Rap" About a month ago, a reporter from our local ABC affiliate contacted me via e-mail and asked for supporting information for a story about Rap music and its impact on young girls. She also wanted to understand the…
Puttin’ Out the Bone
Can't someone help Bearcat fans believe in themselves, see they are worthy, conclude that they can have integrity and victory at the University of Cincinnati? Look, UC men's basketball coach Bob Huggins should think about his future and the health of the school that's employed him for 16 years and resign. Events of the past…
Notices
EXPOSE YOURSELF! With one simple phone call, you can reach up to 17 million young, active and educated readers in more than 100 newspapers just like this one. Call (513) 665-4700 ext 103 (AAN CAN) ISO HALF BROTHER Mom Carol Brown Grandfather Vernon Brown lived on Race st. downtown when born in 1961-1962. Please call…
News: Walking on Sunshine
David Sorcher Photographer/artist Kristin Kolaczkowski hopes people skip the mall on Sundays and visit Over-the-Rhine's new sidewalk markets. As of mid-week last week, artist Noell Weddig was still torn on how to display her artwork to potential buyers. Organizers of Markets on Main told the emerging artist to throw convention to the wind and arrange…
News to Use
Parsing Police Use of Tasers An all-star panel of local experts discusses the Cincinnati Police Department's use of Tasers from 6:30-8:30 May 25 at Rockdale Elementary School, 305 Rockdale Ave., Avondale. The panel features Lt. Col. Richard Janke, the city's assistant police chief; Scott Greenwood, volunteer attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of…
Debating Cultural Differences in Parenting
Matt Borgerding (L-R) State Rep. Catherine Barrett, State Sen. Mark Mallory and William Mallory Sr. at the Gaines High School and Peter H. Clark Historic Marker ceremony. As soon as Cincinnati City Councilman Sam Malone's May 14 arrest for domestic violence hit the news, liberal and conservative bloggers alike started demanding his immediate resignation and…
Am I My Brothers Keeper?
I was cruising for sex online and made a date to meet up with two guys for anonymous play. When we arrived at the one guy's apartment, he asked us if we would fuck him bareback. I said no, but the other guy said he would. The bottom then asked us if we were both…
Cover Story: Bottom’s Up
Sean Hughes Bottom's Up In August 2004, local Pop/Punk band Bottom Line got some fairly life-changing news. Word came down that the album following their final CD for Cincinnati-based Nice Guy Records — the forthcoming Eloquence, due in stores Tuesday — would be on major label Maverick Records, the imprint co-founded by Madonna. And they…
Web Onstage: Moving in Opposite Directions
The best moments of modern musical theater — and truly theater itself — are those that are the most difficult to watch. Those moments of broken hearts. Of dreams dashed. Of promises failed. Of love lost. Never is this more obvious than in the new Cincinnati Playhouse production The Last Five Years, the gimmick of…
Conservative Savages at the PBS Gates
The "nuclear option" as it pertains to TV news is the approaching day when Public Broadcasting System member stations — part of the nationwide network of the not-for-profit producer and distributor of news, talk and entertainment TV programming — stops reporting on escalating deaths and chaos of the Iraq War and becomes a conservative mouthpiece…
