Music: The Simplifier
Paz Suay Following his divorce, Josh Rouse moved to Spain, for three years, something which, made the already-mellow songwriter "even mellower." With the age of sampling and downloading music now feverishly upon us, it's unusual to find artists these days prolific enough to still put out collections of songs every year. It won't be…
News: Turning Back the Bus
Sean Hughes Even as Cincinnati and Hamilton County officials discuss expanding the area's public bus system to make it truly regional, at least two suburbs are asking to have their Metro bus service scaled back or eliminated altogether. Colerain Township Trustees are trying to stop part of the Route 41 Cross Town bus service…
Film: Reviews: Gone Baby Gone and Rendition
Miramax Casey Affleck and Michelle Monaghan get serious in Gone Baby Gone. Novelist Dennis Lehane calls forth Boston neighborhoods with words, giving name to every boozy joint and dirty tramp that was ever stained by a drop of whiskey. In his books, an epic sadness hangs in the dank, smoky air and creeps beneath…
The Carneal House is a ghostly presence on Covington’s riverfront
Joe Lamb The Carneal House has a rich history in Covington. There are few things I love more than the fall. Give me a crisp breeze, pumpkin-flavored everything and a good ghost story and I'm a happy lady. If you agree, a wonderful way to enjoy the weather, some amazing architecture and a ghostly…
Music: The RustBelt Revue
Sara Yaste Cincinnati's Heartless Bastards take a quick break from their hectic schedule while in San Francisco SAN FRANCISCO — Erika Wennerstrom misses my calls because she frequents truck stops. Her longtime friend and Heartless Bastards bassist Mike Lamping might have to remind her to put the beef jerky down and answer her cell.…
Sound Advice: : 1990s and I Am Ghost
1990s I Am Ghost with Strung Out and Evergreen Terrace Friday · The Mad Hatter For a band with such a short history, I Am Ghost has a lot of back-story. The Long Beach, Calif., sextet came together three years ago exuding a Goth vibe and a sound that mixed the immediacy of Punk…
Come together right now for Chris Walker
Even if you've never met Chris Walker, there's a decent chance you have felt him. And I don't mean that crudely. Chris has been a go-to bass player in town for years now, providing the bottom end for a ridiculous amount of bands, so if you go out to hear live music, you might…
News: A New Kind of Green for Government
Kimberly Nickoson George Hardebeck (signing clipboard) and Nate Holscher were among the audience at the Blue-Green Alliance Town Hall. Environmentally friendly practices and job creation are no longer enemies of one another, according to some local officials who indicated last week that they're starting to plan accordingly. A panel of city and county leaders…
Leslie Shiels
Leslie Shiels LESLIE SHIELS exhibits her paintings locally, regionally and nationally. Her current exhibition, Intercessions, on view at Cincinnati Art Galleries through the end of October, features more than 50 paintings. Shiels usually works in series, which have previously focused on the gargoyles of Hughes High School, Bermuda, Africa, cultural patterns, moths, hounds and,…
Dusty Baker the Right Manager for the Reds at Right Time
Jerry Dowling One doesn't expect brainiacs and bigots to agree on very much, but the subject of Dusty Baker as the new Reds manager appears to have forged a united outrage based on some loosely contrived rendering of the so-called "facts." The bigots, having already made up their minds, will not be addressed here…
The Film Crew: The Giant Marathon (Shout! Factory)
THE FILM CREW: THE GIANT MARATHON 2007, Not Rated This is the final installment of the Film Crew's four-DVD commitment to Shout! Factory. "The Crew" is made up of ex-Mystery Science 3000 cast members Michael J. Nelson (Mike), Bill Corbett (Crow) and Kevin Murphy (Tom Servo), who decided to carry on that program's tradition…
Let the Endorsements Begin
Election Day is just a few weeks off, so it's time to start making up your mind. As always, CityBeat is here to help. We begin three weeks of election endorsements right now and will offer more in the following issues, culminating Oct. 31 with our picks for Cincinnati City Council. That issue will also…
The Amazon (Digital) River
Oliver Meinerding Political candidates live in dread of the "October Surprise," a cataclysmic or world-changing (but unpredictable) event that changes our perspective. Not necessarily 9/11, but maybe a ship bombing, a hostage drama or a hurricane. This October, the music industry is reeling from such unwelcome, earth-shaking changes. Where to start? Last month we…
Michael Stusser: The Dead Guy Interviews (Penguin)
MICHAEL STUSSER — THE DEAD GUY INTERVIEWS Personalities fascinate. That's why, despite the laws they pass, the films they produce, the inventions they create, it's the people behind the creation that we're most curious about. Rockets that soar into outer space are old hat, but put a murderous astronaut in a diaper and we're…
A Whisper to a Scream
I'm not much of a screamer, but maybe I should be. In the last few weeks I've been confronted with information and ideas that, while not necessarily challenging or confirming my assumptions about the world, have sharpened my focus. In addition, the influx has curiously felt like a sign of sorts. Of course, my signs…
Self-Contradictions and Other Word Play
The introduction tells a whopper of a tale. Sometimes it's little missteps that change the slant of a news story. Consider a WCPO (Channel 9) Web report about Kenneth Lawson's attempt to keep his law license. The story discussed in some detail testimony at an Oct. 15 disciplinary hearing in Columbus. Describing Lawson's addiction…
Events: Face Your Fear
Halloween has always been my favorite time of year. It's the only holiday that's really for kids. It's all fun: no rituals, no observances, no propaganda. Why aren't more holidays this cool? This year's graveside crop of scary attractions is loaded with chances to test your limits and indulge your paranoia. These are some of…
Indoor Air Pollution
Local holistic living consultant Krystal Dawson says she noticed something odd when she was working for a carpet installer in Boise, Idaho, eight years ago. Workers were told it was imperative that they open all the windows at a job site during installation. "When we came back the next day, we would see all these…
John Fleischman: Black and White Airmen: Their True History (Houghton Mifflin)
JOHN FLEISCHMAN — BLACK AND WHITE AIRMEN: THEIR TRUE HISTORY This reviewer could never be mistaken for a member of grades 4-7, but I found Black and White Airmen: Their True Story, which was intended for that age group, a great read anyway. John Fleischman's clear style never talks down to his audience, so…
Locals Only: : Poke
Poke Poke As they assemble on the front porch of the Southgate House, the members of Poke do the Hokey Pokey, all putting their right feet in to show they have independently shown up for their Paul K. and the Weathermen opening slot wearing Chuck Taylors. It's this kind of spontaneous coincidence that made…
Cover Story: See Dance Now
The School for Creative and Performing Arts Dance Ensemble performs at the Carnegie Arts Center in Covington Oct. 25 and in Abstract Pathways at the Aronoff Center's Fifth Third Bank Theater Nov 1-3. scpa.cps-k12.org Cincinnati Ballet presents Chaconne: A Celebration with Suzanne Farrell at the Aronoff Center's Procter & Gamble Hall Nov. 9-10. www.cincinnatiballet.com Contemporary…
Feasting Through Mexico
Many people say that to immerse yourself in a culture you have to immerse yourself in its food. In a former life as a field archaeologist I did just that. I spent a summer working in the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico at a site called Sayil. My boss (or Heffa), who was one of my…
MainEvent: Midnight Ramble documents African-American cinema
Midnight Ramble Race on Film Once upon a time, race dominated the cultural conversation. Race music and race films spoke to and about the African American experience in a dialect that, at least initially, belonged to the race. So it is fitting that MIDNIGHT RAMBLE, which is more than just a story about the…
Mick Brown: Tearing Down the Wall of Sound: The Rise and Fall of Phil Spector (Knopf)
MICK BROWN — TEARING DOWN THE WALL OF SOUND: THE RISE AND FALL OF PHIL SPECTOR In December 2002, the reclusive, deeply weird record producer Phil Spector allowed British journalist Mick Brown into his castle in Alhambra, Calif., for a remarkably candid, scary interview. Spector was the creator of his Philles record company's densely…
Adanggaman (New Yorker)
ADANGGAMAN 2000, Not Rated The horrific realities of the African slave trade are exposed alongside the conflicted drama of a young man's life in this illuminating and haunting Ivory Coast/Surinam/Switzerland/Burkina Faso co-production. The terrible history of slavery has been depicted before in cinema's past, but Adanggaman is unique in its portrayal of the black-on-black…
1408 (Dimension)
1408 2007, Rated R Adapted from a short story by Stephen King, Swedish director Mikael Hafstrom skillfully helms this twisting one-man showcase in terror. Horror novelist Mike Enslin (John Cusack) is a debunker of paranormal myths. He tackles his latest book project, Ten Nights in Haunted Hotel Rooms, with the been-there-done-that cynicism of a…
News: Papers, Please
Good luck getting on an airplane in 2008 with your current diver's license. The state of Ohio has yet to implement a federal law that essentially requires all Ohio citizens to get a new type of driver's license in order to fly. A new federal law states that a driver's license that is "REAL ID…
Constant Craving
No, those of us in the healing professions are not perfect. I admit it: I've been a peppermint pattie junkie as long as I can remember. Mostly York or Junior Mints, but lately Ghirardelli. And not just those, but Mounds, candy corn, fudge (the grainy kind) and Hersheyets (now called "Kissables"). I crave the gritty…
Cover Story: Staying on Their Toes
Geoff Raker 'Dance Is the Best' "Dance is the loftiest, the most moving of the arts, because it is no mere translation or abstraction from life, it is life itself." — Havelock Ellis, pioneer of human sexuality studies, from Dance of Life (1923) Men in tights, budget cuts — I expected to hear about…
Down at the Sea Hotel
Do you remember the book and 7-inch single sets for children, where each page was turned with the ring of a bell? Today, the publishers at The Secret Mountain are continuing that nifty idea in a softer, more modern approach with a "green" edge. Next week a new book and CD set, Down at the…
Film: The Seeker
Paramount Vintage Brothers in arms: Sean Penn (right) films Emile Hirsch during a scene from Into the Wild. Christopher McCandless was a restless spirit. He was an idealistic young man who yearned for a world where simple truths ruled, a world where crass commercialization and false idols had no place. He read Henry David…
Art: Guarded Memories
Mysterious ways: Kim Flora's "Paris in My Twenties" currently on view at Manifest Gallery. Kim Flora's new collaged paintings, which appear in the exhibition Souvenir at Manifest Gallery, profess to be the artist's own set of reflections on European travel and on a developed sensitivity to location. The best of the work offers tiny…
Stephen Catanzarite: Achtung, Baby: Meditations on Love in the Shadows of the Fall (Continuum Books)
STEPHEN CATANZARITE — ACHTUNG BABY: MEDITATIONS ON LOVE IN THE SHADOWS OF THE FALL Stephen Catanzarite has reflected on a beloved Rock album and turned his reflections into a book. Not only that, but his book is theological, Christian, Catholic and concerned with humanity's place in the world.Ambitious, no? A lesser album would collapse…
Newport on the Levee
Newport on the Levee is hosting a Trick-or-Treat event for kids ages 12 and under, but they have to be in costume! Many of the Levee restaurants will participate, including Mitchell's Fish Market,Moe's Southwest Grill, BRIO Tuscan Grille, Pacific Moon, Café Istanbul, Claddagh Irish Pub, Dewey's Pizza and Johnny Rockets. Ghoulish goodies will be handed…
‘More Fun than Bowling’ heads up a fun week in local theater
Mikki Schaffner (L-R) Josh Aaron McCabe, k. Jenny Jones and Morgan Grahame star in ETC's More Fun Than Bowling. If you want to demonstrate to some doubter that Cincinnati has a remarkable theater scene, the appropriate week has arrived — seven productions will open during a three-day period. On Wednesday, Ensemble Theatre opens its…
Cover Story: Newcomer Is a Renaissance Woman
Mamluft&Co. Dance Jeanne Mam-Luft recently relocated to Cincinnati from Dallas — with her husband, who plays percussion for the Dayton Phiharmonic — and has already held auditions for their post-modern dance company, MamLuft&Co. Dance. Mam-Luft is a multi-hyphenate par excellence: She serves as the company's artistic director, choreographer, scenic/lighting and costume designer, photographer and…
Living Out Loud: : 200, 5 Years and Going on 10
This column is in the print edition of CityBeat twice a month; but when we first started out, we were a Web-only type of thing. Since you clicked on us here today, I want you to know you're reading column #200. That's how many we've done, and I consider it a landmark. Out of these…
News to Use
Liberty Comes to Town The Cincinnati Preservation Association's 12th annual Fall Forum presents Robert Liberty, metro councilor of Portland, Ore., at noon Oct. 19 in the Hall of Mirrors at the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza. Liberty's topic will be, "Divergence and Convergence: Two River Cities Find Their Futures." Tickets for the luncheon are $40. For…
