Bittersweet Emotion, AC/DC Fans Speak Out and More Hair Stories
[HOT] Bittersweet EmotionWe here at Minimum Gauge were very conflicted when we heard the news that Steven Tyler was leaving Aerosmith. On the one hand (the bigger, more convinced one), the dissolution is overdue and they should have stopped about 10 years ago after they made all that money and tarnished their legend with such…
Lit: Dan Chaon
Dan Chaon’s new novel, Await Your Reply, is both an entertaining thrill ride and an incisive look at the way we live today, a world in which technology has fractured our existence and called into question the ever-mutating nature of identity. Existential dread permeates every page. The serpentine, intertwining narrative centers on three people searching…
The Happy Maladies (Profile)
Warm, cozy, sleepy. Eyelids drooping. That’s Rohs Street Café this autumn day. I consider joining the couch-napping man but decide that would be creepy. Anyway, we’re talking about a fiery family feel mixed with an airborne artistic bug, much like a group of bandmates’ close vibe. Like smokes, wolves, cards, a musical gang in a…
Sports: Football
It seems like no one ever takes it seriously when you say you can’t do something because there’s a big important sports game you have to watch. Well, this weekend football fans throughout the Tristate will be canceling plans all over the place, as three local college football teams attempt to continue their undefeated seasons.…
Government Bailout of Newspaper Business a Terrible Idea
Some veteran and excellent journalists are suggesting a taxpayer bailout for financially floundering (and possibly foundering) daily newspapers. That idea is worse than the federal shield law for journalists (On Second Thought column Oct. 28) in Congress now. My objection is an old one: “If you accept the Queen's shilling, you dance the Queen's tune.”…
Music: Steely Dan
Less a band than a concept, Steely Dan was one of the most advanced, successful and mysterious pop units of the 1970s. Combining pop hooks with jazz harmonies, complicated time changes and cryptic, often highly ironic lyrics, the band sounded like no one else. Producer Gary Katz became Steely Dan's "third member," as much because…
Nerds of a Feather
With game developers taking frequent technological leaps and the popularity of Rock Band and Guitar Hero nearing the point of cultural oversaturation, current video game music is light years removed from the tinny din and clunky MIDI palettes of yesteryear. Yet there's much more gaming-related audio out there than what makes it to consoles. The…
Waite Gain
What’s this? Another Cincinnati comedian is appearing on national TV? It’s becoming almost commonplace, as the Queen City’s Dave Waite makes his television debut this week on Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham. Cincinnati’s own Josh Sneed got him the slot at an audition held at the Columbus Funny Bone. Batting fifth and doing a mash-up…
Comedy: David Waite
What’s this? Another Cincinnati comedian is appearing on national TV? It’s becoming almost commonplace, as the Queen City’s Dave Waite makes his television debut this week on Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham. Cincinnati’s own Josh Sneed got him the slot at an audition held at the Columbus Funny Bone. Batting fifth and doing a mash-up…
The Life of Riley
"Dichotomy" was the watchword in Michael Riley’s life. He was an imposing mountain of a man who was relatively soft spoken and gentle hearted; he was generous unless you were among the unfortunate number he had written off for personally held reasons; and he was a lovable curmudgeon, equally quick with a laugh or growled…
Music: The Moore Brothers with Why?
Thom and Greg Moore have done time in a number of worthwhile outfits (the former in Chicken on a Raft and Nedelle and Thom, the latter in Sandycoates and Owl & the Pussycat), but they clearly save their best efforts for their own project together, the appropriately bannered Moore Brothers. The Moores’ last release, 2006’s…
Events: Park and Vine’s Traditional Vegan Thanksgiving
If you’re looking for some vegan love, check out Park and Vine’s Traditional Vegan Thanksgiving with Chef Mark Stroud Nov. 14 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Registration is $36. RSVP to anna@worldpeaceyoga.com before Nov. 12.
Giant ‘Wow’ for New Local Albums
• Local Pop/Rock foursome Giant Wow celebrates the release of Hey Girl this Saturday at the Southgate House’s Parlour room with guests Bootleg Rider and Goose. The disc is an EP … sorta. The band — which expanded to a four-piece after drummer Keith Adams moved to guitar and Kevin Sturgill came in to take…
Music: Heavy Trash
When Jon Spencer and Matt Verta-Ray began the process of writing their third Heavy Trash album, Midnight Soul Serenade, they had no intention of detailing the tragedies and triumphs of love. But after recording and finishing 30 songs within and beyond their Blues/Rockabilly style and winnowing the tracks down to the set they wanted to…
Events: World Food Bar’s ‘Thanksbrewing’
Stop by the World Food Bar’s “Thanksbrewing” on Saturday, Nov. 21, from 7-10 p.m. The hors d’oeuvres alone include Duck Confit Nachos, Truffled Parmesan Pop Corn, Mereguez Sausage Corn Dog with Beer Cheese and the Wild Mushroom Quesadilla (the veggie option). The price is $55 and includes all food and beer pairings. Vegan and vegetarian…
Events: Nectar’s Pumpkin, Savory and Sweet Dinner
Next, you won’t want to miss Nectar Restaurant’s Pumpkin, Savory and Sweet dinner on Nov. 19. At local organic Turner’s Farm, feast on pumpkins like the Connecticut Field, one of the oldest varieties of pumpkins of Native American origin, as well as winter squashes like Delicata and Acorn. Price per person is $55. Dinner starts…
Music: Cheap Girls
When three guys heading toward their twenties formed Cheap Girls two and a half years ago, the project was intended to be something that they wouldn't take too seriously. Each of them had been in other groups before, and this one was supposed to have a good time without hitting the highways. “We were going…
No Direction Home for Chaon
Dan Chaon’s new novel, Await Your Reply, is both an entertaining thrill ride and an incisive look at the way we live today, a world in which technology has fractured our existence and called into question the ever-mutating nature of identity. Existential dread permeates every page. The serpentine, intertwining narrative centers on three people searching…
Seeking Charity for Hate
Protests were held Sunday in Portland and Bangor, Maine over the involvement of the Catholic Church in the passage of ballot Question 1. Portland residents, for example, took their grievances to the street in front of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. And its high time we all do something. No matter where we live…
Art: Shot from Both Sides at The BLDG
Banksy should be shaking in his rebellious artist boots as PREFAB77’s first U.S. exhibit, Shot at from Both Sides at The BLDG, is sure to draw attention to the U.K’s urban art scene. These former street artists, who transcended the brick walls of Newcastle up to the gallery, portray images of politics, war, religion and…
Art: Built Drawings at the Art Academy
This is the final weekend to see a lovely, delicately conceived show of Built Drawings by George Schmidt, a native Cincinnatian now living in Brooklyn, at the Art Academy of Cincinnati's Pearlman Gallery. The show consists of 26 sculptures, drawings, oil paintings and prints that together present an environment of imagined architecture that is elegant,…
Events: Carniball
On Saturday the Art Academy will host their biannual Beaux Arts Ball, the fantastical Carniball, at an incongruous-seeming location, The Gameday Café. Fusing the bizarre extravagance of a carnival with the artistic flair of the Art Academy, Carniball promises to be “the most outlandish fundraising event of the year.” The night will be packed with…
Music: Bad Veins and You You’re Awesome
Local Indie Pop duo Bad Veins has been steadily touring the country since the summer release of its self-titled debut on Dangerbird Records (though they did have to cancel some dates towards the end of a recent jaunt due to van problems). The Veins get a little break now, but they will be performing Saturday…
Onstage: Queen City Brass
For the past two decades, the Queen City Brass has been one of the area’s most renowned wind ensembles as well as one of the busiest. QCB has appeared throughout the Midwest – including broadcasts of Garrison Keillor’s "A Prairie Home Companion" and the Charles Kurault television series The History of Cincinnati – in performance…
CEA Music Peformers Announced, Tickets on Sale
The 2009 Cincinnati Entertainment Awards for Music will be handed out Sunday, Nov. 22 at the Madison Theater in Covington. Live performances include The Lions Rampant (pictured), Magnolia Mountain, You You're Awesome, II Juicy, Small Time Crooks and Brian Olive. Tickets are $15 in advance and $18 at the door and are available here. During…
Onstage: Irving Berlin’s White Christmas
Broadway Across America presents a two-week run of a touring show based on the classic film, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas: The Musical. It’s been around for several years, including a positively reviewed Broadway run late last year, so it’s on the road to several cities as a seasonal offering for 2009. Bing, Danny, Rosemary and…
The Fourth Kind (Review)
While all of the promotional efforts leading up to the release of Olatunde Osunsanmi’s movie (especially those trailers with Milla Jovovich explaining how she’s playing psychologist Abigail Tyler while she shared split-screen time with a dead-eyed Tyler) seemingly wanted to capitalize on the similarities to Paranormal Activity, the true kindred spirit for this tale of…
Bad Veins and You You’re Awesome
Local Indie Pop duo Bad Veins (pictured) has been steadily touring the country since the summer release of its self-titled debut album on Dangerbird Records — though they did have to cancel some dates toward the end of a recent jaunt due to van problems. The Veins get a little break now, but they'll be…
Comedy: Troy Baxley
For Troy Baxley, comedy wasn’t a life-long ambition so much as it was a survival tool. “I started school very early,” he explains, “so I was smaller than other kids. Growing up, I had to be funny and a smart ass to protect myself.” He finally did hop on stage, and delivered what he now…
Onstage: Anthro(pop)ology
Columbus is not too far away to drive to see an evening of performance art that eases into modern dance. This weekend I’ll be going to see Anthro(pop)ology, a variety show that has invited three different groups to critique and consider the positive, negative and ambiguous effects of pop culture in society. In particular, I’ll…
Lit: Moby-Dick Marathon Reading
In order to celebrate the success of their exhibit, Chasing the Whale in Northern Kentucky, Gallerie Zaum is hosting a two-day marathon reading of Herman Melville’s classic, Moby-Dick, which will also be celebrating its 156th birthday on Saturday. According to their press release, to their knowledge, “this will be the first Moby-Dick Marathon anywhere in…
The Box (Review)
Richard Kelly certainly doesn’t suffer from a lack of ambition. The 34-year-old filmmaker’s latest apocalyptic thriller — after the cult-ratified Donnie Darko (2001) and the willfully obtuse Southland Tales (2006), neither of which did squat upon their initial theatrical releases — is rife with impressive production design, a genuine sense of creepy foreboding and an…
Events: Moerlein Keg Tapping
For this winter season the Christian Moerlein Brewing Co. and the German-American Citizens League are having a ceremonial keg tapping party of Christian Moerlein’s Christkindl Winter Warmer Ale, a large malt-bodied brew with some chocolaty sweetness, subtle spice flavors and a hoppy finish. This is a celebration of this city’s German heritage and a fight…
Onstage: Sanders Family Christmas
The Cincinnati Playhouse begins a long run of Sanders Family Christmas: More Smoke on the Mountain, the fifth visit for that Gospel-singin’, hands-a-clappin’, ever-lovin’ Sanders clan to the Shelterhouse Theatre over the years. There are actually three different Sanders Family shows (the Playhouse has produced them all), but this one (previously seen in 1999) might…
Moby-Dick Marathon Reading Spots Available
Moby-Dick, Herman Melville's classic American novel, celebrates its 156th birthday Saturday at Gallerie Zaum in Newport with a 24-hour marathon reading in response to the success of the gallery's recent art exhibit, Chasing the Whale in Northern Kentucky: Local Artists Respond to Moby-Dick. The 24-hour reading will be split between Saturday (Nov. 14) and Sunday…
CEA Voting Ends Today
Public voting for the 13th annual Cincinnati Entertainment Awards for Music ends today at 5 p.m. Check out all the nominees here, and click on the ballot if you haven't already voted. Your vote determines the winners in 16 of the 19 CEA categories. The 2009 music awards will be handed out Sunday, Nov. 22…
Heavy Trash
When Jon Spencer and Matt Verta-Ray began the process of writing their third Heavy Trash album, Midnight Soul Serenade, they had no intention of detailing the tragedies and triumphs of love. But after recording and finishing 30 songs within and beyond their Blues/Rockabilly style and winnowing the tracks down to the set they wanted to…
Cheap Girls with Failures’ Union, Knife the Symphony and Army Coach
When three guys heading toward their twenties formed Cheap Girls two and a half years ago, the project was intended to be something that they wouldn't take too seriously. Each of them had been in other groups before, and this one was supposed to have a good time without hitting the highways. “We were going…
The Moore Brothers with Why? and Jason Snell
Thom and Greg Moore have done time in a number of worthwhile outfits (the former in Chicken on a Raft and Nedelle and Thom, the latter in Sandycoates and Owl & the Pussycat), but they clearly save their best efforts for their own project together, the appropriately bannered Moore Brothers. The Moores’ early work was…
CityBeat Podcast 34: Adventures on I-275
CityBeat's Danny Cross and Maija Zummo, who organized the current "Best of I-275" package of stories, discuss their trip along Greater Cincinnati's beltway. —- If you like what you hear, please support our podcast by subscribing to our podcast in iTunes or via our RSS feed. Also, please tell your friends and share this link…
Friday Movie Roundup: Outside the Box
Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko might be the cult film of the new millennium. The young auteur’s moody opus struggled to find an audience amid a post-9/11 climate that apparently had little patience for the film's head-scratching, reality-shifting narrative and apocalyptic overtones — it received a limited theatrical release about a month after the terrorist attacks…
Stage Door: “Rhinoceros,” “Orpheus Descending” Ending
There’s some very interesting theater onstage this weekend, from Cincinnati Shakespeare to the Cincinnati Playhouse, but I’m going to point you at productions on two local university stages, in part because they have short runs and will be over in the next few days.—- Eugene Ionesco’s Rhinoceros is an absurdist work from 1959. It’s a…
Men Who Stare at Goats (Review)
Director Grant Heslov and screenwriter Peter Straughan adapt Jon Ronson’s nonfiction book, turning Ronson into reporter Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor), who heads to the Middle East in 2003 to cover the Iraq War. Instead, he finds Lyn Cassady (George Clooney), who was part of a 1980s military program launched by idealistic Vietnam veteran Bill Django…
Mission of Burma, Sean Lennon, Los Cenzontles and The Swimmers
My kidneys — specifically, the left one — seem more concentrated on producing solids than processing liquids, and I remain worse for the wear. This has been the longest stone experience I’ve had in memory. I held off on scheduling an appointment with an urologist because I was certain it would be over relatively quickly.…
New York, I Love You (Review)
Inspired as an American reply to his earlier story-collage movie Paris, je t'aime, producer Emmanuel Benbihy extends his anthology oeuvre with another collection of directors contributing a story set in a particular urban environment. Like Paris je t'aime, New York, I Love You unrolls as a hit-and-miss proposition of weighing each (would-be) charming vignette against…
A Christmas Carol (Review)
Robert Zemeckis, the writing-directing wizard who has thrilled and captivated audiences with rousing adventures (the Back to the Future trilogy, Who Framed Roger Rabbit) and then shifted gears dramatically with Forrest Gump and Cast Away, has been bewitched by the siren call of motion-capture technology. His remake of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol follows on…
Coco Before Chanel (Review)
Coco Before Chanel is like La Vie En Rose without the self-destructive bent. Edith Piaf (Marion Cotillard) and Gabrielle Chanel (Audrey Tautou) are street urchins, original old-school hustlers who survive by their seemingly meager charms (at least in relation to those of their bustier and broader competition) and their wiles, both feminine and performative (which…
Herzog Historical Marker a Go
The historical marker proposed for the former site of Herzog Studios (811 Race St., current downtown home to CityBeat’s offices) has been approved. Thanks to the hard work of the Cincinnati USA Music Heritage Foundation, Elliott Ruther, Brian Powers, Bootsy and Patti Collins and others, the marker will be installed at the site — where…
Music: Dead Musicians Society
This year’s Halloween festivities seemed especially zombie-heavy. Zombies are cool and all but, jeesh, what happened to originality in costuming? Unless you were Zombie Billy Mays. Now that’s funny. Anyway, if you did do the zombie dress-up thing and grew so attached you want to sport your costume again this weekend, you’d probably fit right…
Incumbents Win in CPS Race
Presented with a choice of 12 candidates vying for four seats on the Cincinnati Board of Education, voters Tuesday chose to return all three incumbent candidates. The fourth open seat went to first-time candidate Vanessa White, a Charterite. In returning incumbents Melanie Bates and Eileen Cooper Reed, fellow Charterites, the Charter Committee — Cincinnati’s de…
Coming Full Circle
It was an obnoxiously bright Saturday afternoon I should have spent on the couch, nursing a fairly nasty hangover. Instead, I’d been convinced to spend my day in a minivan with three CityBeat staffers (Danny Cross, Jason Gargano and Maija Zummo), a cooler full of autumn ales, a sweater-clad Chinese Crested named Harry and 84…
The Waiting Room
My car had been making a monster-like noise for weeks. I put on my Super Mechanic Woman Thinking Cap, so I knew it was steering or brakes, and I tried to ignore it, but I was getting worried. Finally, this past Saturday the noise was too loud to cover up by cranking up the stereo.…
The Best of the Best
Best Proof of God: Creation Museum There’s no such thing as the Big Bang. Swedish scientists are proving that with their always-broken particle collider. In reality, God created the world in six days, rested on the seventh and made dinosaurs and humans live on the planet at the same time. The Creation Museum will show…
Voters Have No Issues With Issues
It was a split decision Nov. 3 for two voter referendums that were pushed by several groups collectively known as “We Demand A Vote.” The much-debated Issue 9, which would have required a public vote on any rail-related spending by Cincinnati City Council, failed by a 56-44 percent margin. Its decisive outcome marks a significant…
Sounds of the Circle
If Henry Ford invented the car, Dwight D. Eisenhower invented the road trip. Perhaps a slightly exaggerated analogy, but each of these men contributed to the very-American idea of hopping into a car, hitting the open highway and cranking up the tunes (this also required the help of Motorola’s Galvin brothers, but that’s another story).…
Election Aftermath, Teabaggers and a Politicized Prosecutor
Believe it or not, Cincinnati City Councilwoman Leslie Ghiz is a nice person. I’ve been covering Ghiz as a reporter and columnist since her first council campaign, back in 2005. On a personal level, she can be funny and intelligent and prone to uttering newsworthy quotes. Like every public official I’ve covered, sometimes I agree…
Oct. 28-Nov. 3: Worst Week Ever!
WEDNESDAY OCT. 28There are times when a public figure (Charlie Winburn) has to take a stand against a morally devoid organization (CityBeat) in a public place (City Hall) despite the repercussions (getting his bitch ass sued). But there are other times when this type of person does some weird private stuff and gets sued for…
Building a New Metropolis
Cincinnati and other cities have long lamented perceived “brain drains” as talented and creative people leave for bigger and supposedly better environs. But Cincinnati resident and award-winning documentary filmmaker Andrea Torrice claims our city as inspiration. “Moving to Cincinnati gave me the idea for The New Metropolis,” she says. The New Metropolis is a two-part…
Taste of 275
There might be hundreds of dining options along I-275, but there’s only one Super Value Menu — and it’s at Wendy’s. In honor of this pioneering fast food chain, whose Old Fashioned Combos, Garden Sensations Salads and Frosty™ have revolutionized highwayside dining, we sent our most poor and hungry talented and promising young writers out…
Election Schizophrenia: Mallory In, Harris Out
Cincinnati voters sent conflicting messages at the polls Nov. 3, reelecting Mayor Mark Mallory by a wide margin but rejecting a moderate Democratic incumbent on City Council and replacing him with a conservative Republican who dismantles Mallory’s five-member voting bloc. Mallory won with 36,444 votes, or 54 percent of ballots cast. That compares to 30,901…
Election Results, Reactions, Instant Analysis
CityBeat's coverage of Election Night results and reactions is now up on our web site. Go to our Election Central section for stories from Kevin Osborne and Stephanie Dunlap on the unofficial results for Cincinnati mayor and city council, Cincinnati School Board and the various statewide, Hamilton County and city ballot issues as well as…
