Onstage: He Says/She Says
Charlie Clark and Elizabeth Holt star in See What I Wanna See. When I write a review, I invite you to take my word for it. Some readers trust my judgments and insights; others (although I can't imagine why) might prefer an opinion from another reviewer. And some people prefer to see a production…
News: Food Fight
Andy Houston Democratic hopefuls John Cranley (left) and Sherrod Brown spoke Oct. 2 at the AMOS Project's "Candidates Public Meeting on Values." With just three weeks until Election Day, political campaigns are on overdrive with seemingly non-stop TV commercials and frequent automated telephone calls begging for support from voters. As races become tighter and…
Living Out Loud: : Write!
Dear LOL Writer (I'm withholding your name, because I won't want to embarrass you — trying to do you a favor. You can thank me later): Excuse me if I seem even grumpier than usual. As you well know, or so I hope, your Living Out Loud column was due Monday. You said that wouldn't…
Cover Story: Outstanding in His Fields
Ryan Greis Outstanding In His Field In his days as a prison psychologist, Ted Strickland used to work with a disturbed inmate who had the habit of chucking vials of his HIV-infected blood at staffers. That experience, recalled in a 2001 article for Corrections Today magazine, was probably good training for some of the…
JASON MORAN — ARTIST IN RESIDENCE (BLUE NOTE)
JASON MORAN — ARTIST IN RESIDENCE A most unusual Jazz album, pianist Jason Moran's Artist In Residence is a surprisingly cohesive hodge podge of tunes commissioned for a variety of different art installations. "Arizona Landscape" quietly explores Vince Guaraldi territory. "Refraction 2" begins on the same turf but Moran and drummer Nasheet Waits soon…
News: Close Race in the Northern Burbs
Graham Lienhart Connie Pillich is running in her first political race. The race for state representative from Ohio's 28th District pits a Democratic newcomer against a Republican incumbent with a record of ethics troubles. State Rep. Jim Raussen (R-Springdale) is looking to spend a third term in office. The challenger is Connie Pillich, an…
You Can Google It
Notes: If you haven't heard of YouTube.com yet, it's okay you're probably already on it. Yesterday (I regret to say), I watched a home video of a chubby lady on a beach listening to her iPod and singing along while random kids laughed at her. Sad. However, apparently 11,710 other people have also wasted 2:54…
News: Ohio’s Moment of Truth
Whoever wants to be governor raise his hand: Republican Ken Blackwell (left) and Democrat Ted Strickland make points during a debate Oct. 4 at the University of Cincinnati. Third party gubernatorial candidates (R-L) Robert Fitrakis, William Peirce and James Lundeen held an "alternative" debate Oct. 4 at Media Bridges. Politics isn't often this interesting.…
Film: Daydream Nation
Columbia Pictures Together again: Sofia Coppola (left) guides Kirsten Dunst on the set of Marie Antoinette. Sofia Coppola is a mistress of listlessness. She loves to present her young protagonists in mid-daydream, as if there could be nothing greater than witnessing a girl in thought. Her first film, The Virgin Suicides (2000), opens with…
Web Onstage: Stringing Along
For perhaps half of its 90 intermission-less minutes Michelle Lowe's String of Pearls is as discerning and as lively as the sleek, chic regional premiere production it was given by director D. Lynn Meyers at Ensemble Theater of Cincinnati (ETC). This is the second entry in the theater's six-show '06-07 lineup and, despite its sins,…
Upcoming Concert Reviews of The Appleseed Cast, Hot Buttered Rum, Jolie Holland and More…
Anti-Records Jolie Holland The Appleseed Cast with Caterpillar Tracks, Voyageur, Alone at 3AM and All the Day Holiday Wednesday · Mad Hatter Since their formation nearly a decade ago, the Appleseed Cast has evolved from a standard-issue but talented Emo band into a complex and experimental unit with a penchant for blending seemingly disparate…
THE BE GOOD TANYAS — HELLO LOVE (NETTWERK)
THE BE GOOD TANYAS — HELLO LOVE The secret of The Be Good Tanyas' sonic success is as much about what you don't find on their first two albums — 2001's Blue Horse and 2003's Chinatown — as what you do. The Vancouver trio (Samantha Parton, Trish Klein and Frazey Ford; they once featured…
Web Onstage: Laugh a Lot
If you've loved the absurd humor of the British comedy troupe Monty Python's Flying Circus — especially their classic film Monty Python and the Holy Grail —get out your coconuts and clippity-clop downtown for the touring production of Monty Python's Spamalot. A lot of fans were are showing up. With a scene change — oh,…
Expose the Lying Weasels
Regarding the editorial "It's a Crime" (issue of Oct. 11), the reason that city leaders are intimidated by the Cincinnati Police Department is actually answered in other articles in the same issue. Both the cover story ("M.I.A. Dale Mallory") and the Porkopolis item about Christopher Finney ("The Republican Longing for Anal Affection") make it painfully…
Web Onstage: Madness and Beauty
If you don't know the plays of Paul Rudnick, you should: He's a very funny guy, able to generate great quips at the slightest turn of events. Valhalla, a play he created in 2004, is a fine example of humor if not theater in its current production by Ovation Theatre Company. The show, which is…
Web Onstage: Airborne
Richard Oberacker, a theatrical composer with local roots (Anderson High School and UC's College-Conservatory of Music), writes in the program for Ace, currently onstage at the Cincinnati Playhouse, that he and his creative partner Robert Taylor wanted "to write something that returned to the traditions of the great American musicals of the so-called 'Golden Age…
Theater Op De Middag
My recent vacation to Brussels afforded only one theater visit, but it really set me to thinking. After several days of tasting Belgian beers and chocolate, I needed to sit in the dark for some mental stimulation. However, my French is rusty and my Flemish is nonexistent. So a theater piece with no spoken words…
News to Use
Learn to Make Peace The Michigan Peace Team presents the Nonviolent Peacemaking Workshop from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Oct. 21 at the Peaslee Neighborhood Center in Over-the-Rhine. The program includes both theoretical and practical information. The cost is $30 per person, including lunch. For more information, visit www.michiganpeaceteam.org. To register, call Kristen Barker at 513-579-8547. Confused…
Reeling Around the Fountain
CityBeat Archive Joe Deters can't stand riot sympathizers, except when they help him get elected. Fountain Square officially reopened Oct. 14 with compelling entertainment, some controversy and lots of construction work still to be done. The overall feeling among those attending the day's festivities seemed to be that the new square is quite an…
Events: The Story of Ron
Ron White Puff on this: Ron White says he's been through "many, many years of behavioral problems." Things are going well for comedian Ron White. "Yeah, it's seems to be going pretty well considering that five years ago I was living in my best friend's attic and had just gotten out of a relationship…
Strong, Young Pitchers Lead Detroit Tigers to the Promised Land
Jerry Dowling Those watching the baseball playoffs see the Detroit Tigers rolling out pitcher after pitcher who trips 98 miles per hour on the radar gun, and their thoughts can't be suppressed: The Fox network radar gun must be reading a little fast just to turn up the "wow" factor and keep the audience…
Deciding the Issues
Election Day is less than three weeks away, and no matter where your voting precinct is your ballot will be full. As always, CityBeat is here to help you separate the wheat from the chaff. We begin our election endorsements with the ballot initiatives most Hamilton County voters will face. There likely will be local…
What We Carry
This coming Dec. 3 would have marked the ninth anniversary of the last time I shaved my head. That's almost a decade that I've carried dreads. Prior to that period, I'd been shaving my head. The look attracted loads of attention. During my high school and college days, people often told me I looked like…
Diner: Far East Fusion
Pacific Moon Go: Newport on the Levee, Newport Call: 859-261-MOON Hours: 11-2 a.m. Monday-Friday, noon-2 a.m. Saturday and Sunday Prices: Moderate Payment: Major credit cards Red Meat Alternatives: Many seafood recipes and an extensive vegetarian menu Accessibility: Fully accessible Grade: B- The first thing I noticed when my girlfriend and I walked into Pacific Moon…
Diner: Look Who’s Eating – Andy Hajjar
Andy Hajjar, along with his quieter brother Majed, are the proprietors of Andy's Mediterranean Grille, a Walnut Hills hotspot featuring delicious, authentic Lebanese Middle Eastern cuisine, belly dancers, hookahs and, well, Andy. Dishes like Shish Tawook, a Best Entreé award winner at Taste of Cincinnati, and seven varieties of baklava, keep our non-dancing bellies happy.…
THE REVEREND PEYTON’S BIG DAMN BAND — BIG DAMN NATION (FAMILY OWNED)
THE REVEREND PEYTON'S BIG DAMN BAND — BIG DAMN NATION The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band is in reality just a trio, but they kick up a hell of a ruckus. A mountain of a man (ordained minister and Kentucky Colonel!), The Reverend's Deep-South mush-mouth roar and brutal dobro slide work pour forth from…
Film: Double Vision
Warner Bros. Entertainment The Departed's Matt Damon(left) and Leonardo DiCaprio battle it out for Oscar supremacy this fall — each is in multiple films. With tongue firmly planted in cheek, I begin with the observation that the fall box-office season opened with a pair of Ashton Kutcher projects occupying the top two slots. For…
Sarah Benjamin
Matthew Cummings' "Gold and Apricot" is currently on display at Marta Hewett Gallery. Only a few days remain in which to catch the photography of SARAH BENJAMIN in her exhibition, If you had one day, at NICHOLAS GALLERY (23 E. Court Street, Downtown). Using black shadow boxes to showcase her photographs, she creates a…
Music: ‘Skin,’ Deep
Frank Ockenfels II Reviled for Fleetwood Mac's pop successes, Lindsey Buckingham is now revered as a visionary, a journey he expresses on his quietly gorgeous new solo album, Under the Skin. Everything concerning Fleetwood Mac ultimately grew to legendary proportions after the arrival of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham in 1975. The success, the…
Locals Only: : Too Live Coo
Aya If you saw a picture of this exotic, diminutive beauty with the caption, "Vocalist from Canton," you might be thinking, "Chinese?" Well, you'd be doubly wrong. The sultry singer was actually born to Filipino parents near the lovely burg of Canton, Ohio. To continue setting the record straight, Aya is actually the stage…
Disability in Your Life? Vote!
Less than three weeks to go until we get another chance to put the money where the mouth is or, as revered disability rights leader Justin Dart Jr. was so fond of saying, "Vote as if your life depends on it — because it does." Of course, there are more problems that need fixing than…
Wojo Heads For the “Borderlands”
Local fivesome Wojo returns this week with its first album since 2003's How To Try Without Succeeding. The band's new Borderlands gets its official release this Sunday at legendary downtown bar, Arnold's. The 8 p.m. show is free; a copy of the new CD will set you back $10. Louisville's John Whitaker opens. The band's…
This is Devo? D-E-V-O?
The underlying concept is bizarre. Covering DEV2.0 — Alt music pioneers Devo's foray into kid's music — in CityBeat seems blasphemous, absurd or maybe both. How do we get our minds around a product that casts Mousketeers as cynical, counter-culture cartoons? It's as if the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers or Maus were starring in…
L.E.O. — ALPACAS ORGLING (CHEAP LULLABY)
L.E.O. — ALPACAS ORGLING Four years ago, William "Bleu" McAuley traded his local Boston reputation for a Sony contract, the brilliant if overlooked Power Pop album Redhead and a couple of song placements on the high-profile soundtracks of Spider-Man and Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! In the interim, Bleu was hipped to some…
