Reviews of First Job, The Trials of Lenny Bruce, Crash!ng the Party, Freedom and Odd Jobs
Everyone's got their own heroes — folks whose actions have made our lives and world better, whose words continue to inspire us. One of the great things about books is that there are always a few new ones to discover. Rinker Buck, for instance. In First Job: A Memoir of Growing Up at Work,…
News: Wear Something Now
A woman is sexually assaulted every 45 seconds, but only one assault in 10 is reported, according to the FBI. To raise awareness of these statistics, Do Something Now fashioned the "Every 45 Seconds" tank top. Do Something Now was spawned from the minds — and pockets — of University of Cincinnati seniors Regina Schnieder…
Home Work
Open up virtually any publication or get online, and you'll be bombarded with informational ads for housing. Tour the real estate classified section, and you'll be hit with the latest, greatest new homes on the market. New roads are branching and sprouting everywhere, coursing, so it seems, in every direction from the once flourishing center…
Puttin’ Out the Bone
I have so much to be thankful for. I mean, for a Thanksgiving edition, a writer should just look around himself and give it up for what's good. Forget the usual cynicism, the smart-mouth analysis. Be a damned optimistic American and thank some deserving people, Jene. OK. Let's go. For starters, thank you, people here…
Cover Story: A Neighborhood or a Node
Doug Trapp Development continues in the West End. Forces of change are sweeping through Oakley, the East Side Cincinnati neighborhood of about 12,000 people. On one side, community leaders and advocates of smart growth want more of what Oakley already offers: a public square surrounded by a variety of businesses you can walk to,…
Music: Dance to The Music
England's The Music would like an American audience. But they say that, unlike some British bands, they aren't worrying too much about it. British bands suck. Oh, sure, the U.K. has brought us The Beatles and The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd and The Sex Pistols, Radiohead, and The Verve and…
Whirlygig: 54
Lover Vs. Girlfriend Everyone needs a good read when traveling, and a few years back I was killing time waiting for my flight by browsing the bookstore at Cincinnati International Airport. I stumbled across Savage Love, which seemed like a juicy read of a then-unknown sex advice columnist's columns. Dan Savage wasn't familiar to me,…
Sacred Cow
I'm a lapsed Christian. Then so is my pastor. The Rev. Freddie T. Piphus has been disengaged from leadership at Lincoln Heights Missionary Baptist Church (LHMBC). And it disturbs me to say so. The reasons for Piphus' dismissal aren't evident, because no one besides God and Piphus really knows what went down. Oh, there have…
Diner: By the Book
"Tavo … isn't that Italian for table?" I ask a server on a recent outing to the new bistro in Hamilton. Her brow fully furrowed, she says she's not sure, but thinks the decorator named it Tavo's because it "just sounds good." After consulting a manager, she confirms it is Italian for table. (Actually, it's…
837 Bank St., West End
Jymi Bolden Address: 837 Bank St., West End Year Built: 1875 Owner: David Daniels Value: $8,100, according to the Hamilton County Auditor's Office Comments: When David Daniels Jr. bought this house, he says, his family was trying to pick something that could be developed. "I bought this thing as a bright-eyed, eager person," he…
Are Suburban Voters Holding Back Cincinnati’s Public Schools?
Is it time to dump the suburbs? The Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) includes several suburban areas, such as Cheviot and part of Green Township, in addition to the city of Cincinnati. Three weeks ago suburban voters effectively killed Issue 2, keeping $480 million out of the hands of the school district. Now, as their school…
News: Political Irritants
Matt Borgerding Anti-war protesters were vocal but nonviolent during George Bush's visit to Union Terminal. But police used chemical irritant on at least three protesters. The Cincinnati Police Department has reformed its policies on the use of force, according to a report given City Council's Law and Public Safety Committee last week. But the…
Jasson Minadakis’ Hard-Knock Message
I could have said good-bye the other day when I caught outgoing Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival (CSF) Producing Artistic Director Jasson Minadakis at a Seventh Street coffee bar, but I decided against it. The words were too painful to utter. Minadakis' departure had been announced a few days earlier, despite the fact that he co-founded the…
Locals Only: : Wussy
Jymi Bolden Wussy Wussy is not a side project. In fact, it's a band that recently tends to play out more than two of its members' better-known main outlets: The Ass Ponys and Messerly & Ewing. AP frontman Chuck Cleaver asked singer/songwriter Lisa Miller to join him for a song or two during last…
News: Fair Trade
Jymi Bolden Cheryl Ruh (left) and Sayrah Namaste welcome shoppers at Ten Thousand Villages. You can't put a price on fairness. Or maybe you can. A bell rings as you walk through the door of Ten Thousand villages, Cincinnati's first fair-trade retail store. To the left is a shelf filled with indigenous Nativity scenes…
Food, drink, etc.
If the idea of wrestling a clammy turkey into the oven leaves you cold, or if you simply don't want to deal with the aftermath of your family and friends gorging themselves then leaving you to clean up the mess, you can find refuge at a selection of area restaurants where Thanksgiving dinner is served…
Listings
Art Opportunities 97X COMMUNITY GALLERY AND ARTISAN GROUP — A virtual art gallery of digital art, photography, sculpture, poetry, food and art has opened its doors on the pages of elaine.garver@abilitiesfirst.org or vicki.fleming@abilitiesfirst.org. ACLU OF OHIO — Volunteers are needed for the Southwest Chapter of the ACLU of Ohio. Our interests are in the areas…
The Bloodthirsty Lovers
The Bloodthirsty Lovers The Bloodthirsty Lovers is the new project from prolific Memphis-based singer/songwriter, David Shouse, best known as the leader of both The Grifters and Those Bastard Souls. The Lovers' self-titled debut release, due in February on Frenchkiss Records, shows off the more ethereal side of Shouse's songwriting, largely eschewing guitars and other…
Film: Strokes of Genius
Actress Salma Hayek brings artist Frida Kahlo to life in director Julie Taymor's film biography, Frida. One of the many remarkable moments in Frida, the new film biography of artist Frida Kahlo, occurs during a wedding sequence. In it we see what appears to be Kahlo's own painted portrait, depicting herself and muralist husband…
