Bird-Day Disasters
The first of the 2008 "Holiday" festivities kicks of the day after tomorrow for a lot of people. If you could blitz any traditions in your family – that would reduce stress or just make the end of the year more enjoyable – what would you eliminate?—-
Seven Tips for a Thrifty Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is in two days, and it’s likely that most of you have plans of some sort: getting together with family, eating a tremendously large meal, enjoying some football on television, getting caught up on your sleep, and so on. Some of you may have already begun on those plans – I know that for…
Holiday: Festival of Lights
With 300,000 new LED lights twinkling in the Festival of Lights display at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical gardens this year, the zoo will save $30,000 on their Duke Energy Bill. What that means in practical terms is enough power to supply 36 homes for an entire year. And the lights are coo, too. Beginning…
Comedy: Vic Henley
You'd think that an Alabama-bred comedian like Vic Henley would eventually run out of material about the South. Not so. "My wife and I went down there," he says from his home in New York City, "and we were having dinner at O'Charley's or Friday's, and she got a Caesar salad. The waitress came out…
Sports: Thanksgiving Day Race
Run first, eat later. The 99th annual Thanksgiving Day Race takes over downtown for a family-friendly 10K starting and ending at Paul Brown Stadium. All ages, shapes and sizes are invited to run for their health. There’s free parking at the stadium and the course takes you on a lovely scenic jog all over downtown.…
Week 11 – Nancy Ashbrook
You are the winner of tonight's Bud Light Bolo toss game. How does it feel to be a champion? Any advice for Carson Palmer?Great! Women rule. Now that you are in the spotlight, you are a role model. Any words of wisdom for all those aspiring Bud Light Bolo Football quarterbacks that look up to…
Music: Franksgiving
Everyone knows Wednesday is the alleged "biggest bar night of the year." But what about those of us who need a stiff drink after spending the day stuffing our faces and arguing with family members over politics, sports and that goddamn Aunt Cathy who just refuses to have that paternity test done to figure out…
CEA Photo Galleries
CEA Afterparty at Know Theater CEAs at the Emery Theatre, Inside and Out King Records Plaque Dedication Ceremony on Nov. 23 Historic Emery Theatre Photos King Records Album Art CEA Nominee Photos King Records Press Conference on Oct. 6
Art: Terrain at Collector’s Art Group
Kevin Muente, a landscape painter whose stated aim is to feed off the energy created by various forms of nature — with a particular attraction to leaves, branches, ripples and stones — has a new solo show, Terrain, at Collector's Art Group (225 E. Sixth St., second floor) through Dec. 31. He is also an…
Events: Lipizzaner Stallions
If cats have nine lives, how many lives do the Lipizzaner Stallions have? The "World Famous" Lipizzaner Stallions World Tour gallops in for three shows, presented in the style of the Spanish Riding School of Vienna, proving they were worth saving not once, not twice but four times. These magnificent white stallions have been rescued…
Onstage: A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant
It’s the time of year when theater companies present shows that veer from their routine fare in hopes of selling lots of tickets to fund subsequent productions more aligned with their mission. So perhaps I should be charitable in this season of good feelings when a group like Know Theatre presents A Very Merry Unauthorized…
Onstage: Radio City Christmas Spectacular
What’s everyone ready for right after Thanksgiving? That’s right, Christmas! "Radio City Christmas Spectacular" brings it to you straight away with a whole chorus line full of high-kicking Rockettes and other fanciful choreographed numbers. For over 75 years this show has dazzled audiences with acts like the "Parade of the Wooden Soldiers," "New York at…
Holiday: Light Up The Square
Downtown Cincinnati celebrates the holiday season in true Christmas fashion with “Light Up the Square,” the annual Fountain Square Christmas tree lighting on Friday. Ablaze with 20,000 twinkling lights, the tree will be topped off with a 5-foot-tall red star. This is the largest tree that's ever been on the square, measuring 60 feet. “St.…
Music: Katie Reider Benefit at the Southgate House
Celebrate the life and music of Katie Reider with a memorial show and benefit at the Southgate House Saturday. Bands performing include Kelly Thomas & The Fabulous Pickups, Lauren Houston, Tupelo Honey, Ann Driscoll and more. In July of 2007, Katie was diagnosed with a rare tumor that ate into her jaw and face, stole…
Cleveland Mulls Partner Registry
While the legal battle continues in California over whether voters can overturn a state Supreme Court ruling and re-criminalize marriage of same-sex couples, the rights of those couples actually are expanding in a few Ohio communities.—- The city of Cleveland is considering the creation of a domestic partner registry, along with an ordinance to protect…
Chinese Government Disses GNR
I've yet to hear the new Guns N' Roses record — well, besides the overblown/overproduced first single — but apparently a dude in the Chinese government has. —- In response to GNR mastermind/control freak Axl Rose dubbing the album Chinese Democracy, the official reportedly had this to say: "As far as I know, many people…
The Results Are In…
After a beautiful ceremony at the Emery Theatre in Over-the-Rhine Nov. 23, the results of the 2008 Cincinnati Music Awards are in. The winners are (drum roll please): These awards were determined by public vote: Bluegrass: Rumpke Mountain BoysBlues: Sonny Moorman GroupCountry: The TurkeysExperimental/Electronic: Chick Pimp, Coke Dealer at a BarFolk/Americana: Jake Speed and the…
Shop Local Pledge
Pledge to spend $100 of your shopping dollars at locally owned and operated businesses this year and you will be entered to win one of our deluxe prize packages from local merchants. With your support, we can make a difference in the economic health of our community. Email "I PLEDGE" to shoplocal@citybeat.com and you will…
Monday Wellness Roundup
Personal Health NYT: Texas evangelicals realize that sex is a good idea. WSJ Health Blog: Reading side effects on drug labels can make you sick.—- WSJ Health Blog: Forgetting is a good thing. MedGadget: Transdermal patch offers an alternative to needles. Environment Live Green Cincinnati: Permeable pavers in OTR is a green alternative to asphalt.…
Should Poorer Cincinnatians Be Protected from Pollution?
Environmental Justice is about keeping already polluted neighborhoods from having to accept more polluting neighbors – usually industry, not a family of 12 or more. The myth that jobs will be lost and businesses will choose other locations (taking their precious tax dollars with them) is one of several objections used to support placing polluting…
Cincinnati Entertainment Awards 2008: The Winners
The afterparty is still going on as I write this, but, while we assess what happened last night at the 12th annual Cincinnati Entertainment Awards event at the Emery Theatre — the first sold-out show and quite possibly the best show in CEA history — here's who won what last night.—- The enormity of having…
Friday Movie Roundup: Danger, Young Love and Sexual Longing
What’s up with the fuss surrounding Twilight? Hundreds of multiplex sellouts for last night’s midnight opening? Fans camping out a day early to catch a glimpse of stars Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart as they arrive for the film’s Hollywood premiere? Hordes of screeching teenage girls going gaga over Pattinson during a recent promotional appearance…
CEAs Sold Out
The 2008 Cincinnati Entertainment Awards show on Nov. 23 is officially sold out, but fans who want to catch the show-closing performance by bluegrass legend and Grammy Award winner Ralph Stanley might still be able to purchase tickets. Every year at the CEAs some nominees leave during the show (typically once their category awards are…
Onstage: The Price
The Price is neither the last nor the least of Arthur Miller’s plays — although it arrived later (1968) and is certainly a lesser effort than the two seminal plays that elevate him, along with Eugene O’Neill and Tennessee Williams, to the very pinnacle of American playwriting. Now, through Nov. 23 at the Madisonville Arts…
CEAs Sold Out But Ralph-Only Tickets To Be Made Available
If you haven’t scored your tickets for the Cincinnati Entertainment Awards music ceremony this Sunday, you’re out of luck. For the first time in the show’s 12-year history, the event has sold out. Thanks to everyone who purchased a ticket. All of your admission money is given to the Michael Bany Scholarship Fund. —- If…
Stage Door: CCM Takes a Trip Back in Time
If you're looking for a ride in the time machine this weekend, I recommend that you try to score a ticket for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at the University of Cincinnati's College-Conservatory of Music (CCM). The 1962 Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winner satirizes the corporate world of the early 1960s,…
Sex Education That Makes Sense
Ohio Prevention First Act has been in limbo for three years while Planned Parenthood Action of Ohio, NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio and supporters requested a hearing for the “a common-sense, common-ground measure that would reduce the number of unintended pregnancies in Ohio by increasing access to birth control and ensuring fact-based sex education programs in public…
Battle of the Blogs: Game On!
We’ve long known that CityBeat’s readers are among the smartest in Greater Cincinnati. Now you can help prove they’re among the most generous, as well.—- We are accepting a challenge from the Cincinnati Beacon blog to join the first-ever “Battle of the Blogs” to help raise money and donations for the FreeStore/Foodbank. Begun by the…
Week 10 – Scott Griffifth
You are the winner of tonight’s Bud Light Bolo Toss game. How does it feel to be a champion? Any advice for Carson Palmer?Want to go the Walt Disney! Get a better coach. Now that you are in the spotlight, you are a role model. Any words of wisdom for all those aspiring Bud Light…
Ocho Cinco Breaks Team Rule: Being Cool
The Bengals will be on national TV tonight taking on their big brother the Pittsburgh Steelers, and they’ll be without Chad Ocho Cinco because he done broke a team rule. What kind of rules to the Bengals have anyway? No winning? HAHAHA.—- Some people have reported that 85 “got into it” with someone and left…
Free Concert Tonight with Mofro
Alligator recording artists JJ Grey and Mofro perform a FREE show tonight in the grand ballroom of the Southgate House. Go here to read the unexpurgated version (including videos and interview outtakes) of our feature story on Mr. Grey and Co. and go here for more show details. —- Score tickets to the free show…
Defining Contemporary Art
The term "contemporary art" is supposed to have a specific — if changing — meaning. Originally, I first heard of it as a term for defining the seriously ambitious and new art of the post-World War II era, thus differentiating itself from the modern-art era, with its various movements, that preceded it in the earlier…
STFU! CrowGR FERZH FaiR! OMG
A new mediocre everything store! White people rejoice! Kenwood has FINALLY opened up the fancy new Kroger Fresh Fare. It's like regular Kroger but with more "market" and "organic" produce that is more expensive and appeals to the high-class folks that still have their jobs. —- When I got out of my car it was…
Tsuga Art and Music Festival
I'm going to this on Friday. It's a benefit to save eastern hemlock trees, which are apparently being eaten by tiny Asian insects. Bonnie "Prince" Billy is headlining the music portion of the evening, but before that there's an art show from 5-8 p.m. P.S. This is all in Lexington. P.P.S. Gas is really cheap…
Bourbon Tasting Panel Report: Tasting Notes
Here are complete tasting notes from the 11 bourbons sampled at the Deadwood Saloon during CityBeat’s Bourbon Tasting Panel. (See the complete article here.) They’re listed in the random order in which they were tasted. Notes are primarily mine, though select quotes from other panelists are included. Old Forrester Signature (4 years old, 86 proof)There’s…
New Plays Nearby
Want to get a big dose of new theater? You’ll want to spend some time in Louisville next March and April, when Actors Theatre of Louisville presents its 33rd consecutive Humana Festival of New American Plays. Productions begin on March 1, 2009, and continue through April 11. The 2009 festival will present six full-length plays,…
Week 7 – Jason Howard
You are the winner of tonight’s Bud Light Bolo Toss game. How does it feel to be a champion? Any advice for Carson Palmer?It feels very familiar. Carson Palmer should put on a band aid and go out there and do it. Now that you are in the spotlight, you are a role model. Any…
The Wizard of Oz (Review)
As a kid, I watched The Wizard of Oz annually on TV. The 1939 film is a classic, and its stars, including Judy Garland as Dorothy, songs and lines are iconic. Now it’s been turned into a stage musical. Unfortunately, a touring version of The Wizard of Oz, at the Aronoff for a two-week run,…
Week 3 – Dave Witterstaetter
You are the winner of tonight’s Bud Light Bolo Toss game. How does it feel to be a champion? Any advice for Carson Palmer?It's an amazing feeling! I am not qualified to give Carson any advice. Now that you are in the spotlight, you are a role model. Any words of wisdom for all those…
Local Food Banks Need Your Help
This week, The Dish is on a mission to make sure local families have food for Thanksgiving. Because of the flailing economy and lost jobs, local food banks are experiencing severe shortages, and some of our neighbors might be without Thanksgiving dinner this year. While Kathy Greenberg of the Freestore Food Bank says the store…
The Truth About Scotland Yard
Elia Einhorn got a lesson in music journalism with the release of his first album under the banner of the Scotland Yard Gospel Choir six years ago. The Welsh born/Chicago reared singer/songwriter found some interesting feedback in a local review. “One critic here in Chicago, who I had idolized and loved his column, hated it…
Lit: Stories for Shorty Book Release
Back in the mid-’80s when I was in high school, I was befriended by a group of social misfits who wanted to play some music. One of the first times we hung out, they took me across the river, to then “seedy” Newport, and an even seedier little music club called The Jockey Club. While…
Being Charlie Kaufman
Charlie Kaufman takes things to a whole new level in Synecdoche, New York, an acutely dour metaphysical mind-fuck of a movie with Philip Seymour Hoffman playing an emotionally battered theater director in modern-day Manhattan. Kaufman’s screenplays for Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind are child’s play by comparison: Reality is…
Translating Art Into Words and Words Into Art
As curator of education at Contemporary Arts Center, Scott Boberg cares deeply about the visual impact and meaning of words. One of his jobs is to write the informational wall text accompanying the art at the museum. “How do you create opportunities for communication in contemporary art?” he asks. “When you write the wall panels,…
Week 2 – Don ‘Snoop’ Brinkman
You are the winner of tonight’s Bud Light Bolo Toss game. How does it feel to be a champion? Any advice for Carson Palmer?It feels great to be a champion! Carson Palmer should make sure to throw 'em hard and straight. Now that you are in the spotlight, you are a role model. Any words…
Ode to a Bartender
Ode to a Bartender I’m a regular reader of Larry Gross’ Living Out Loud column. I’m constantly amazed at how he puts himself out there, and last week’s column is no exception (“My Bartender and Bar Politics,” issue of Nov. 12). His “ode to a bartender” story was wonderful. I was very moved by Gross’…
Dirt Devils
The magnetism. The chemistry. You can feel the electricity. JJ Grey was born, and remains, a true Southern gentleman whose passion is rooted with a certain intensity, whose passion stems from a certain soil. This passion translates from soil to song and stage as “front porch Soul, gritty Funk and juke joint romps to contemplative…
The Price (Review)
The Price is neither the last nor the least of Arthur Miller’s plays — although it arrived later (1968) and is certainly a lesser effort than the two seminal plays that elevate him, along with Eugene O’Neill and Tennessee Williams, to the very pinnacle of American playwriting. Now, through Nov. 23 at the Madisonville Arts…
Ode to Ralph Stanley
I once opened for Ralph Stanley somewhere north of Cincinnati in a pre-fabricated building with one of those signs out front where you can change the letters by hand. It said, “Tonite Ralph Stanley,” and that was about all it needed to say. As the song said, “The joint was jumping.” It was packed wall-to-wall…
Week 5 – Nate Sloan
You are the winner of tonight’s Bud Light Bolo Toss game. How does it feel to be a champion? Any advice for Carson Palmer?It feels great, I don't care if the Bengals are losing it's a great feeling. Now that you are in the spotlight, you are a role model. Any words of wisdom for…
Week 4 – Steve Walker
You are the winner of tonight’s Bud Light Bolo Toss game. How does it feel to be a champion? Any advice for Carson Palmer?This feels great. Carson will be fine. Now that you are in the spotlight, you are a role model. Any words of wisdom for all those aspiring Bud Light Bolo football quarterbacks…
Variety Shows
Philadanco’s Founder and Executive Artistic Director Joan Myers Brown has a big, warm, sunny-sounding voice. She speaks to me from a Boston tour stop, where her modern dance company is booked for a three-night run. Mobile phone to mobile phone, we chat. Modern-style. Having founded Philadanco nearly 39 years ago, Brown has necessarily evolved with…
Happy-Go-Lucky (Review)
Sally Hawkins’ performance in Mike Leigh’s Happy-Go-Lucky is so free and sweet, so spontaneously unmannered and joyfully unaffected, that I found myself looking at her feet in various scenes. Were they really on the ground or was she walking on pure sunshine? She seems that liberated from the gravitas of earthly concerns. Writer/director Leigh, who…
‘For Profit’ Vs. ‘For People’
Within 48 hours of Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland signing House Bill 545 — characterized by many groups as the “country’s strongest payday lending reform law” — the payday lending lobby mobilized to fight it. The Nov. 4 ballot included Issue 5, an initiative that allowed voters to say yes or no to the reforms passed…
CEAs Run of Show
6 p.m. Doors open to the Emery Theatre 7 p.m. Cincinnati Entertainment Awards for Music Performance: Bootsy Collins and friends: Tribute to James Brown Host: Jen Dalton, Local 12 Awards: Hard Rock/Metal; Punk/Post Punk/Hardcore; Rock Performance: The Sundresses Presentation: A Celebration of King Records Awards: Blues; Jazz; Folk/Americana Performance: Eclipse Awards: Experimental/Electronic; Singer/Songwriter; Hip Hop…
Week 1 – J.M. Pendergast
You are the winner of tonight’s Bud Light Bolo Toss game. How does it feel to be a champion? Any advice for Carson Palmer?Cheer for OSU on September 13th! Now that you are in the spotlight, you are a role model. Any words of wisdom for all those aspiring Bud Light Bolo football quarterbacks that…
Separate but Equal … Isn’t
There she was, an unexpected guest braving the cold drizzle and gusty wind on the steps at Cincinnati City Hall in a show of solidarity on a gloomy autumn Saturday afternoon. In town for a performance later that night, comedian Margaret Cho strummed her guitar and sang a tune she’d written to entertain those who…
The King of Them All
It won’t exactly be the sort of historical marker you’ll stumble upon while taking a stroll. It will be found at the end of a dreary industrial street in Evanston, fixed to a pole in front of a poop-brown abandoned warehouse overlooking cars whizzing by on I-71. But someone who comes upon it next week…
Cincinnati: Music Capital of the Midwest
A few weeks ago I read about a group of Cincinnati business executives and Chamber of Commerce types visiting Minneapolis to learn how that city markets itself to the world. These people made a similar trip last year to Charlotte, N.C. The idea is that Cincinnati needs to identify a unique characteristic, a selling point…
Obama, the Media and Us
America has spoken. Our next president is Barack Obama, the Democratic contender who beat up the early favorite in the party primary, Hillary Clinton, before taking on the Republican standard-bearer John McCain. Although I didn’t vote for Obama, I accept him as my president and hope for success unprecedented in the history of the United…
Straight, No Chaser
Tom Waits, George Thorogood, Charles Bukowski, Mike Figgis, Ray Carver and even W.C. Fields have portrayed bourbon as the “binge drinker’s best friend.” But store shelves are now packed with small-batch, artisanal American whiskies — selling at prices that rival the best single malt scotches and finest cognacs. With the holidays fast approaching, CityBeat convened…
Far from Home, but Still Home
ALPEN, GERMANY — As my days in Germany come to a close, what question am I asked the most? Will I be happy to be going home? The quick answer is always an emphatic “Yes,” with the added disclaimer that home is and always will be Cincinnati. And as wonderful as it is to see…
Terrace Hotel
Several weeks ago a local landmark of Modernist architecture was suddenly and unceremoniously closed. Although the future of the Terrace Hotel has been somewhat uncertain in recent years, the closure came as a shock to its employees, who were given just one day’s notice of their impending unemployment, and preservationists, who had planned to hold…
Gregory and the Hawk with Chris Haubner and more
When multi-instrumentalist and native New Yorker Meredith Godreau first began performing live, she conceived the moniker Gregory and the Hawk as a way of disguising her singer/songwriter status and avoiding those inevitable associations. By the time Godreau assembled an actual band and played the Brooklyn show where she was “discovered” by FatCat Records, she already…
Wild Carrot (Profile)
“Don’t name your band after anything that can be put on a mug,” says Wild Carrot vocalist/guitarist Pam Temple, offering a cup of coffee adorned with their namesake vegetable. “Over the years we’ve been given hundreds of things with carrots on them. We have carrot dog toys.” Temple and guitarist/mandolinist/vocalist Spencer Funk, partners in music…
Saturday’s Game Against Pitt a Historic Moment for UC Football
Following the University of Cincinnati football team used to be one of life’s simple pleasures, a private and personal window on sports through which the wins and losses didn’t matter as much as the laughs, groans and occasional sense that these kids might be getting somewhere. Might be. Few others understood or cared, which was…
Another Seven Days of Ditching Kids and Fighting H8
WEDNESDAY NOV. 12A Catholic church in South Carolina has some new rules for its parishioners who voted for Barack Obama for president: They have to tell God they’re sorry before taking communion again. The AP today reported that the Rev. Jay Scott Newman of St. Mary’s in Greenville handed out letters to each of his…
Speaking Truth to Power
A woman who created a group to protest what she calls the unprofessional conduct of Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters says a detective on his staff recently called her and tried to intimidate her into stopping the group’s high-profile criticism. Franki Butler-Kidd, who heads “Citizens Against Joe Deters,” says a detective e-mailed and then telephoned…
The Bluegrass of King, The King of Bluegrass
Musical nicknames are an interesting way to rank contenders atop any hierarchy. King of Rock and Roll. King of Pop. Godfather of Soul. Bill Monroe is widely recognized as the Father of Bluegrass, and so, in that context, perhaps we can consider Ralph Stanley as the genre’s kindly Uncle — the guy who teaches us…
The Alternative Field Guide (Review)
The Lloyd Library doesn’t receive as much foot traffic as the public library a few blocks away. Most people probably don’t realize that its quiet Plum Street building houses a phenomenal collection of medical, botanical, natural history and travel books dating as far back as the 15th century. Although it’s highly specialized, the Lloyd continues…
Music: The Jockey Club Reunion ’08
Back in the mid-’80s when I was in high school, I was befriended by a group of social misfits who wanted to play some music. One of the first times we hung out, they took me across the river, to then “seedy” Newport, and an even seedier little music club called The Jockey Club. While…
Week 9 – Brian Kupper
You are the winner of tonight’s Bud Light Bolo Toss game. How does it feel to be a champion? Any advice for Carson Palmer?It feels fantastic! Carson needs to stay healthy. Now that you are in the spotlight, you are a role model. Any words of wisdom for all those aspiring Bud Light Bolo Football…
Remembering the Jockey Club
Back in the mid-’80s when I was in high school, I was befriended by a group of social misfits who wanted to play some music. One of the first times we hung out, they took me across the river, to then “seedy” Newport, and an even seedier little music club called The Jockey Club. While…
Week 6 – David Montaum
You are the winner of tonight’s Bud Light Bolo Toss game. How does it feel to be a champion? Any advice for Carson Palmer?This feels so amazing. Don't fumble. You had some tough competition tonight. What one Bengals fan experience did you harness in your quest for victory?Our Super Bowl trip to Detroit. You seemed…
Week 8 – Matthew Rearden
You are the winner of tonight’s Bud Light Bolo Toss game. How does it feel to be a champion?Words cannot express how it feels to be tonight's champion. I am honored and blessed. Now that you are in the spotlight, you are a role model. Any words of wisdom for all those aspiring Bud Light…
Ingrid Michaelson with Newton Faulkner and more
Singer/songwriter and New York native Ingrid Michaelson is yet another success story tied to the phenomenal rise of MySpace and proof of the new adage that television is the new radio. A mere two years ago, Michaelson posted a handful of her ukulele-friendly tunes on her freshly minted MySpace page and quickly attracted fans who…
Poems from Guantanamo
Whether you agree with the use of the Guantanamo Bay detention center for the holding of “enemy combatants” without charges or trials, you can get an idea of what life on the inside is like, thanks to the ACLU.—- Celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the ACLU is taking “a…
