Show the Locals Some Love at MidPoint
With the MidPoint Music Festival returning this Thursday-Saturday, numerous musical acts from around the world will be performing at venues throughout Over-the-Rhine and Downtown. But there are also several artists playing MPMF who don’t have to travel far at all. Since beginning 13 years ago, acts from Greater Cincinnati have been the backbone of MPMF.…
Buona Terra Gelato + Holtman’s Donuts = Gelato Donut Sandwiches
Buona Terra Gelato and Crepes in Mount Lookout is hosting a heck of a delicious party on Friday night. From 7-9 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 26, Buona Terra is partnering with Holtman's Donuts to offer a limited amount of gelato-donut sandwiches. There will be 100 total sandwiches, with flavors including pumpkin donut with cheesecake gelato,…
The Wanderer
I ndie Rock singer/songwriter Jessica Lea Mayfield is a northern Ohio native who has moved back and forth between Nashville, Tenn., and the Buckeye State a few times since her solo career took off. While a steady home might appeal to those who travel often for their vocation (as musicians do), Mayfield enjoys hitting the…
Soul Proprietors
H ere’s another reason why organized religion and Rock & Roll mix so poorly: Whereas the church teaches one to know his or her place before an alleged Higher Authority, Rock is all about being your own superstar. Paul Janeway, the screaming, pleading 28-year-old dynamo vocalist in St. Paul & the Broken Bones — the…
We Got the Beast
T hese days, musical comebacks seem inevitable, but few are successful, philosophically satisfying or even welcomed. That is most assuredly not the case with The Afghan Whigs, as frontman Greg Dulli, bassist John Curley and their current band of brothers return home on their triumphant circuit to promote their acclaimed new album, Do to the…
MidPoint Music Festival Critic’s Picks: Saturday
MidPoint Music Festival 2014 kicks off this Thursday and we've been showcasing some of the Critic's Picks from our official MidPoint guide (which will be available throughout the fest). While most of attendees are likely very familiar with some of the bigger headlining acts, these suggestions mostly focus on some of the lesser known gems.…
Home is Where the Art Is
P eople who say you can’t go home again might want to consider the story behind Brett Dennen’s latest album, Smoke and Mirrors. On tour behind his 2011 album Loverboy, the singer/songwriter found himself wearing down, getting stuck creatively and unsure about where to go with his music. He was very much feeling a disconnect.…
Chvrches with The Range
We’re in the midst of a small renaissance in Scottish music. In the last five years, a league of young bands from Scotland — namely, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Frightened Rabbit and The Twilight Sad — have been accumulating fame and touring internationally while making earnest, expertly manicured Indie Pop about love and heartbreak in…
The Wood Brothers with Chris Kasper
Apparently, Chris Wood wasn’t content to routinely drop jaws and confound skeptics with his insurmountable Jazz bass skills, as evidenced by his stellar track record with Medeski, Martin & Wood. Back in 2004, Chris and his guitarist/vocalist brother Oliver decided to join forces in the aptly christened Wood Brothers to reintegrate their divergent musical paths.…
The Quebe Sisters with Tim Shelton
The Quebe Sisters are singing sweetness personified. A lot of what works for Hulda, Grace and Sophia Quebe is the same thing that has made sister (or brother) acts shine over the years — close sibling harmonies. When you grow up together, you not only have a knack for figuring out what the other one…
Morning News and Stuff
Hello Cincy. I’m back with the news this morning for what will sadly be the last time this week. Texas beckons for a few days, and I must heed its hot, sweaty, libertarian call. I’ll be back this time next week, however, to talk about the news and make the cheesy, topical jokes even your…
Matisyahu with Radical Something
When you come on the scene as a young man who performs Dancehall Reggae mixed with Rap and other genres, and do it as a bearded, Orthodox Hasidic Jew who touts his spirituality in his grooves, you will be noticed by believers and non-believers alike. Matisyahu was unique in that regard, though it is true…
MidPoint Music Festival Critic’s Picks: Friday
In honor of this week's MidPoint Music Festival we're showcasing some of the Critic's Picks from our official MidPoint guide (the print version of which will be available throughout the fest). While most attendees are likely very familiar with some of the bigger headlining acts, these options are mostly some of the lesser known on-the-rise…
Overpowered by Funk
S omewhere in New York City last week, an entire block was kept entertained by the sounds of two Canadian visitors practicing for their next tour. The guys of Electro Funk duo Chromeo, Dave 1 (David Macklovitch) and P-Thugg (Patrick Gemayel), have toured practically nonstop this summer. But this tour leg is different. They’re changing…
It’s the Most MidPointiest Time of the Year
This week marks the return of the MidPoint Music Festival to the clubs and venues of downtown and Over-the-Rhine. In the fest’s 13-year history, it has grown a lot from its origins as a showcase for unsigned acts. Today, MidPoint features adventurous and critically acclaimed artists from around the world, regardless of their label affiliation…
Music: MidPoint Music Festival
This week marks the return of the MidPoint Music Festival to the clubs and venues of downtown and Over-the-Rhine Thursday, Sept. 25-Saturday, Sept. 27. In the fest’s 13-year history, it has grown a lot from its origins as a showcase for unsigned acts. Today, MidPoint features adventurous and critically acclaimed artists from around the world,…
MidPoint Music Festival Critic’s Picks: Thursday
It's MidPoint Music Festival week! If you need some guidance as you create your MPMF itinerary (which you can build and keep track of through the live.mpmf.com app), we'll be showcasing some of the Critic's Picks from our official MidPoint guide (which will be available throughout the fest). While most of attendees are likely very…
Music: Brett Dennen
Brett Dennen’s latest album, Smoke and Mirrors, spotlights two distinct sides to Dennen’s music. Mainly acoustic, fairly stripped-back songs like “Only Want You,” “Sweet Persuasion” and “Don’t Mess With Karma” capture the more intimate and honest personality of Dennen’s early albums, while “Wild Child,” “Not Too Late” and “When We Were Young” are more up-tempo,…
Music: CHVRCHES
We’re in the midst of a small renaissance in Scottish music. In the last five years, a league of young bands from Scotland — namely, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Frightened Rabbit and The Twilight Sad — have been accumulating fame and touring internationally while making earnest, expertly manicured Indie Pop about love and heartbreak in…
Music: The Wood Brothers
Apparently, Chris Wood wasn’t content to routinely drop jaws and confound skeptics with his insurmountable Jazz bass skills, as evidenced by his stellar track record with Medeski, Martin & Wood. Back in 2004, Chris and his guitarist/vocalist brother Oliver decided to join forces in the aptly christened Wood Brothers to reintegrate their divergent musical paths. …
Music: The Quebe Sisters
The Quebe Sisters are singing sweetness personified. A lot of what works for Hulda, Grace and Sophia Quebe is the same thing that has made sister (or brother) acts shine over the years — close sibling harmonies. As kids, various Quebe sisters won quite a few fiddle championships at the local, state and national levels…
Music: Matisyahu
When you come on the scene as a young man who performs Dancehall Reggae mixed with Rap and other genres, and do it as a bearded, Orthodox Hasidic Jew who touts his spirituality in his grooves, you will be noticed by believers and non-believers alike. Matisyahu was unique in that regard, though it is true…
Onstage: The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 Jazz Age novel, The Great Gatsby, is generally considered a great American novel. It’s been made into several films — none truly successful — and there’s only one stage adaptation authorized by Fitzgerald’s estate. Cincinnati Shakespeare Company is giving that script by Simon Levy its regional premiere to launch its 21st…
Event: Kinman Farms Fall Festival
Be it corn mazes, hayrides, bonfires, face painting or cornhole, Kinman Farms Fall Festival has a superabundance of all your autumnal favorites. The festival is also a great destination for kids, where they can take a ride on “Charlie” or “Blondy,” the farm’s two ponies, or get lost in their five-acre corn maze. Newly included…
Halloween: Queen City is Haunted Tour
No matter where you are in the world, beneath your feet are the remains of billions of years. So many things have happened in the exact spot you are now, and as people try to uncover that past, mysterious things come along with it. Just Google “Cincinnati haunted” and you will find stories of horrifying…
Halloween: Halloween Haunt at Kings Island
So maybe you’re too old to get spooked by Halloween Haunt’s spine-tingling attractions, but you’re never too old to visit the state’s best amusement park (you heard me, Cedar Point!). Once the sun starts to drop, Kings Island becomes dangerously full of nefarious clowns, bloodied doctors and howling werewolves. The park’s annual bloodbath features 11…
Onstage: Dirty Dancing
The coming-of-age drama about 17-year-old “Baby” Houseman and Johnny, a dance instructor, at a vacation resort in the Catskill Mountains was an immense movie hit in 1987 — making it a logical choice to become a stage musical today. It got its start in Australia in 2004, then toured to numerous North American cities from…
MidPoint Favorites The Ridges Return to MPMF ’14
Over the past few years, Athens, Ohio’s Indie Folk troupe The Ridges have become a regular presence at Cincinnati area clubs, building up a nice local following. They’ve also become fairly regular participants in the MidPoint Music Festival (which returns starting this Thursday to the clubs and venues of Downtown/Over-the-Rhine) and they always provide fest-highlight-worthy…
Morning News and Stuff
Morning news, y'all! A grand jury is convening right now, as I type, to decide whether to indict Beavercreek Police Officer Sean Williams in the death of John Crawford III. Williams shot Crawford, 22, while responding to a 911 call reporting a gunman at a Beavercreek Walmart. Crawford, however, turned out to be unarmed, carrying…
Event: Art Off Pike
Celebrate art and performance at the 10th annual Art Off Pike creative street festival. Peruse work from more than 50 local artists, watch live performances in dance and music, or simply hang out and watch a piece of Northern Kentucky’s urban core come alive with talent. The event will also feature a movie-themed scavenger hunt…
Event: Fire Up the Night
Coney Island sends summer off with a bang with their international fireworks competition Saturday. A panel of judges, alongside audience votes via text message, will decide who is the best as teams from Spain, Japan and Germany light up the night with pyrotechnic displays. The competition will conclude with a finale by Rozzi’s Famous Fireworks.…
Music: Daniel Bennett
Daniel Bennett is a modernist New York Jazz musician who plays alto saxophone and flute in a manner that brings together elements of Steve Reich's minimalism and repetition, Colin Stetson's circularity and — with his guitarist Nat Janoff — East African rhythms. He and Janoff will be playing from his new album Clockhead Goes to…
Event: Cincinnati Street Food Festival
Where will you find 15 local food trucks, craft beer, live music, art and children’s activities all in one event? At the third annual Cincinnati Street Food Festival in Walnut Hills. Come and experience some of Cincinnati’s finest food on wheels as C’est Cheese Food Truck, Dojo Gelato and Red Sesame Korean BBQ converge on…
Event: Great Outdoor Weekend
If you need a vacation but can’t go anywhere, relax at the 11th Great Outdoor Weekend. This coming weekend, regional sustainability alliance Green Umbrella provides a free chance for Cincinnatians to explore ways to escape our daily lives. There will be more than 120 outdoor recreation and nature awareness programs at 40 different locations around…
Event: Newport Oktoberfest
This weekend, Wiedemann’s Newport Oktoberfest celebrates the area’s rich German heritage with a Munich-style festival featuring continuous live German entertainment and authentic German food and beverage. Also part of the festival on Friday is the Cincinnati Beer Run, a 2.5-mile course featuring four craft-beer sampling stops and glow wear that ends at Oktoberfest. (Run starts…
Art: Hipstamatic Ohio at photosmith
With the rise of digital photography, photographers searched for ways in which to digitally capture imagery that retained the look and feel of retro photography — things like the cheap but technically obsolete analog Lomography and Polaroid Instant cameras. The Hipstamatic iPhone application (developed in 2009) is just one of many successful apps for smartphones,…
Comedy: Dan Davidson
“I’ve made people laugh, now I want to make them cry,” says comedian Dan Davidson, as he drives from his home in Denver to New Mexico. “I’m trying to break into this New Mexico market for acting. They shoot a lot of TV and feature films there.” On stage he talks mostly about his life…
Music: Jesse Thomas
Raised in Covington, Ky., singer/songwriter Jesse Thomas cut her teeth in the Greater Cincinnati music scene before relocating to Los Angeles to pursue her music career full time a few years ago. So far, so good. The deft writer combines elements of Folk, Pop, Country and Rock into a sublime mix, which has earned Thomas…
The Oxygen of Publicity
A photo of children being buried after an attack in Ukraine led the Sept. 9 New York Times. I looked at it repeatedly, turning away, then returning. No gore. No bloody bandages. No hovering physicians. A few grieving relatives and neighbors. One casket was closed and being covered.The other, open, showed a young girl, seemingly…
Morning News and Stuff
Hello all. I'm gearing up to push a beer barrel around Fountain Square at this year's Oktoberfest kick off as part of Team City Beat, so I'll be brief in this end-of-week news rundown. Mayor John Cranley last night delivered his first State of the City address. In it, he called 2014 a banner year…
WATCH: The Yugos Perform “Follow You”
On their most recent tour, excellent Northern Kentucky Indie Rock band The Yugos stopped by Toledo, Ohio’s SixtyTen Recording Studio to record its latest single, “Follow You,” as part of the facility’s “SixtyTen Sessions” video series. The studio version of the single, released earlier this summer, can be streamed/downloaded here. One week from the day,…
Stage Door: Riverside, Reefer and Sondheim
There are several good productions onstage around town — check out CityBeat coverage of Hands on a Hardbody (a musical at ETC), The Great Gatsby (a classic American novel adapted for the stage at Cincy Shakes), Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Suicide Club (a new adventure for the great detective at the Cincinnati Playhouse) and…
From The Copy Desk
Hey, readers. We’ve got some catching up to do. As CityBeat’s new Web & Copy Editor, I’ll be taking over our weekly vocab blog, in which I’ll point out, define (and sometimes snicker at) the high-minded choice of words by some of our writers. These are obtuse words, or at least words that aren’t…
CityBeat’s Iron Fork Food Fight
No more hours spent arguing among fellow foodies about which local chef’s food artistry is the best because on Oct. 15 the true victor will be revealed as CityBeat hosts Cincinnati’s first annual Iron Fork competition. Three select chefs will battle it out to see who is the best; the winner will receive the prestigious “Golden…
Rhinegeist to Throw Second Annual Franztoberfest
Cincinnati brewery Rhinegeist celebrates the turn of the season the German way with their second annual Franztoberfest. As always, Rhinegeist promises a marvelous time, with lots of beer, live bands, beer sports, a photobooth, inflatable jousting and more beer. To commemorate the season, the brewery salutes Cincinnati’s heritage by releasing their take on a German…
WNKU Supports Local Music, Local Music Supports WNKU
While commercial radio throws a bone here and there to homegrown musicians in Greater Cincinnati via specialty shows or segments, public radio station WNKU (89.7 FM; wnku.org) frequently adds songs from local artists to its regular-rotation playlist. And it has for years. The station also covers the local scene online with news and reviews, hosts…
LIVE.MPMF.COM
With society’s ever-increasing infatuation with smartphones, mobile apps have become as indispensable for music festivalgoers as sensible shoes. While MidPoint can’t help you out with the footwear, thanks to our creative partner Topic Design, the festival will once again feature a great interactive app to help you plot out your schedule and keep tabs (via…
More Midway Music Options Than Ever
The free stage at the MidPoint Midway has grown a lot since it began. Originally a place mostly for second-play sets by artists already performing at the festival, for the past couple of years the Midway stage has featured some of MPMF’s bigger artists. This year, the all-ages stage has one of its best lineups…
More All-Ages MPMF Options Than Ever
With MidPoint using primarily indoor drinking establishments for venues in the past, it’s understandable that under-21 music lovers might have felt a little left out of the fun. But this year, MPMF is more all-ages friendly than ever, with the fest’s six biggest stages (featuring many of the event’s biggest acts) being open to everyone,…
Morning News and Stuff
Morning all! Let's jump right into the news. Members of Cincinnati City Council have some preliminary good things to say about the Haile Foundation’s recent proposal for funding streetcar operating costs. Meanwhile, Mayor John Cranley has said he’s working on a plan of his own, and you can hear all about it… in a month…
Keystone Celebrates Seven Years
Keystone Bar & Grille has been doing scandalously delicious things to macaroni and cheese for seven years, and it’s about time to show your appreciation. Luckily, they’ve planned a celebration of their seventh anniversary Thursday, Sept. 18. There will be live music, patio pours by MadTree Brewing, a Framster photo booth, and a free appetizer buffet.…
The State of Cincinnati Hip Hop is Strong
Tonight, Cincinnati mayor John Cranley will be giving his “State of the City” speech. For a snapshot of the state of the city’s Hip Hop scene, take a look at the following recent music videos. Judging by these tracks and visuals, I’d say the state of Cincinnati Hip Hop is strong. • Yesterday, the reigning…
MPMF Visitor’s Guide
Hello. Welcome to Cincinnati. Chances are you’re here for the 14th-annual MidPoint Music Festival. If you aren’t, you should be, because about 30,000 extra humans have descended on the city for a weekend of live music spread across bars, theaters and parks in downtown and Over-the-Rhine (Cincinnati’s super-hip revived-historic ’hood). If you are here for…
Getting Around MPMF
There is more road construction this year downtown and in Over-the-Rhine, thanks to the forthcoming streetcar project, which will be a great benefit to MPMF in the coming years (unless some bitter politician steps in again in an effort to block our impressive urban progress). But don’t be discouraged by a few lane or road…
A Cincinnati Love Letter
During MidPoint Music Festival’s Sept. 25-27 run, the MidPoint Midway, curated by ArtWorks and situated on 12th Street between Vine and Walnut streets in Over-the-Rhine, will play host to local artists and writers expounding in their own particular way upon the theme of “Ink Your Love.” The end result of Ink Your Love will be…
City Council Passes Ordinances to Fight Sex Trafficking
Cincinnati City Council today unanimously passed two ordinances to address Cincinnati’s growing sex trafficking problem. The ordinances were sponsored by Councilwoman Yvette Simpson. One increases civil fines for using motor vehicles in solicitation or prostitution from $500 to $1,000 for a first offense and up to $2,500 for each subsequent offense. The other ordinance funnels…
Cincinnati in Song
This morning we received a message from former CIncinnatian/current Silver Spring, Md., resident Chris Richardson about some Cincinnati music-centric posts on his cool music blog, Zero to 180. Richardson has a rich knowledge of music in general — his blog “celebrates studio songcraft and some of the lesser-known stories behind the songwriters, musicians, producers, engineers,…
Black Lips with the King Khan and BBQ Show
“Drive-By Buddy,” the opening track on the Black Lips’ recently minted Underneath the Rainbow, sounds like Faces by way of The Monkees, its Honky-Tonk guitar riff and galloping beat leavened by the quartet’s usual assortment of lyrical goofiness: “Well brother, what’s the matter/Do you hate the life you’ve chose/Well I hope it doesn’t flatter, when…
Sarah Jaffe with Astronautalis and Transit
The music bug bit Sarah Jaffe early. And hard. At age 3, the Denton, Texas-rooted, Dallas-based singer/songwriter was asking her mom for instruments; by 9, she had procured her first guitar via a garage sale and started penning her own songs. As a teen, Jaffe, who grew up in a household soundtracked by folkies like…
Walk the Moon Gears Up for New Album Release
The reigning Cincinnati Entertainment Award winner of Artist of the Year honors, Alt Pop quartet Walk the Moon, is finally set to release its second album for RCA Records. The band’s self-titled debut for RCA was released more than two years ago and featured a large amount of re-recorded songs from Walk the Moon’s self-released…
Caged Heat
O ver the years, media outlets have been fond of intermittently reporting the death of Rock and the coronation of Electronic music in its wake. Obviously, the pronouncements of Rock’s demise have always been greatly exaggerated, even as Electronica, in its varied forms, has risen to greater levels of mainstream prominence. The question that’s on…
Lay’s Ask for Another Flavor Favor
Last March in this column space, I wrote about Lay’s and its “Do Us a Flavor” campaign, which asked consumers to come up with interesting new chip flavors to then be voted on by the public. The winning chip would stay on shelves and the creator would win a million bucks. It was a publicity…
Elephant Walk Injera and Curry House (Review)
M cMillan and Calhoun streets near the University of Cincinnati have long been a home for ethnic food. Diverse options of mostly Asian fare, along with other mom-and-pop restaurants, have remained a staple even as construction has changed much of area’s landscape. One of the newest additions to U Square @ the Loop, the multi-use…
Son of a Gun
Last week’s Sons of Anarchy (10 p.m. Tuesdays, FX) final season premiere broke network records with more than 9 million viewers tuning in to the first broadcast. And it makes sense — Sons does have its draws. You’ve got the bikes and brawls that attract the coveted 18-40 male demographic. Then there’s the show’s star,…
I Just Can’t Get Enough
Last week was Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in New York, the time of year when style trends are set, when fashion gods are carried from runway to runway, when Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen emerge from their tiny troll lair to present a new collection of looks for their line, The Row. Here are the sisters…
Local Film and Comic Book Events Join Forces
Duke Energy Convention Center is an enticing destination for film and comic book enthusiasts this weekend as Cincinnati Comic Expo and Cincinnati Film Festival have collaborated, making Downtown a veritable nerd playground. Throw in the fact the expo draws a lot of out-of-towner costumed superfans who will inevitably come into contact with the lederhosen-clad Oktoberfest…
State of the Art
T wo Cincinnati-based artists — Assistant Professor of Painting at the Art Academy of Cincinnati Jimmy Baker and Rookwood Pottery artist Terence Hammonds — are included in the upcoming Crystal Bridges national survey of contemporary American artists, State of the Art: Discovering American Art Now. The exhibition, which opened at the Bentonville, Ark., museum on…
Morning News and Stuff
All right, let’s do this news thing. Ohio has added a charter school from Cincinnati, as well as another from Columbus, to its investigation into Chicago-based Concept Schools, which runs 17 charter schools in the state. Concept has come under state and federal scrutiny after former teachers at the company’s Horizon Academy in Dayton made…
Unwanted Free Music Infuriates
HOT Unwanted Free Music Infuriates Judging by comments from many iTunes users, getting a free, easy-to-delete album from U2 is the worst thing to ever happen to music and computers. When it was revealed during the new iPhone announcement that the band’s new Spam Songs of Innocence would be placed in all iTunes users’ libraries,…
101 Cool Things to do This Fall
SEPTEMBER Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Suicide Club: Holmes tackles London’s Suicide Club in this whodunit. Through Oct. 4. $30-$80. Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, 962 Mount Adams Circle, Mount Adams, cincyplay.com. Old West Festival: The seventh annual Old West Festival transforms the Ohio countryside into an authentic-ish Dodge City Wild West town.…
“The Jock”
C. Trent Rosecrans, Enquirer Reds Beat Writer CityBeat readers might remember C. Trent Rosecrans’ weekly sports column in this publication during 2012, before he came up on his current gig at The Enquirer covering the Reds. In addition to covering the crap out of Cincinnati’s most beloved hometown team, Rosecrans is actively forwarding the journalistic…
“The Princess”
Tracey Lynn Conrad established the volunteer Young Philanthropist Society of Cincinnati (ypscincinnati.org) to raise awareness for nonprofit organizations in Cincinnati while developing a commitment to philanthropy among the next generation of community leaders. She also functions as a fundraiser, event planner and promoter for Cincinnati’s arts and nonprofit community and is currently working to promote…
“The Bad Boy”
Floyd “Floyd from Ohio” Johnson is the founder of Ohio Against the World, a lifestyle brand featuring everything from hats and T-shirts to lighters, flags, and soon, skateboards sporting the ubiquitous bold and capitalized slogan, “Ohio Against the World,” plus parodies of upscale brands, like crewneck sweatshirts with the words “Givenchy” and “13.99” printed on…
“The Artist”
Pam Kravetz (pamkravetzart.com) is a multi-hyphenate fiber artist, arts educator, founder of the knitting/crochet street art gang Cincinnati BombShells (under the pseudonym Pinky Shears) and a performer. She was also a docent at the Contemporary Arts Center in the early ’80s, when it was still located on the second floor of the Mercantile Center on…
“The Brain”
Founded in 1835, the Mercantile Library (414 Walnut St., 11th Floor, mercantilelibrary.com) is one of downtown’s hidden treasures. A members-only library ($55 annually), its spiral iron staircase, leather club chairs and Grecian busts complement its collection of historic and new books and it has overseen a slew of literary workshops, forums and author lectures from…
The Cool Issue 2014
These days, it’s hard to know what’s cool. The word “cool” is decidedly uncool. Fall weather is literally cool. But what about the Renaissance Festival? FotoFocus? Ira Glass? Instead of burdening ourselves with deciding what to do this fall (most of the CityBeat staff drinks at home in a blanket until March), we looked to…
Judge Strikes Down Ohio’s Law Banning Campaign Lies
A Cincinnati federal judge struck down an Ohio election law that bans lies in political campaigns by candidates or independent organizations. U.S. District Judge Timothy S. Black ruled Sept. 11 that the 19-year-old law was “inherently flawed” because it granted a government agency — the Ohio Elections Commission — the power to determine which political…
Foundation Floats Special Tax District Proposal to Fund Streetcar
As city leaders look to find ways to plug a $4 million annual funding gap for the operation of Cincinnati’s streetcar, a major backer of the transit project has proposed a way to raise a good deal of the needed money. In the process, the group would also like to expand Cincinnati’s idea of what…
Cincinnati vs. The World 09.17.14
Mayor John Cranley launched this year’s Young Professionals Kitchen Cabinet, a think tank for Cincinnati residents under the age of 40. Members will have the chance to brainstorm, research and share ideas with the mayor and city administration. CINCINNATI +1 President Obama is expected to boost U.S. efforts in the fight against West Africa’s Ebola…
Historic Crossroads
F or decades, uptown neighborhoods Avondale, Corryville and Walnut Hills have struggled with the challenges associated with disconnected inner-city areas. But recent discussions about an ongoing $100 million highway project at the intersection of the three neighborhoods have raised questions about ways in which development can help address those struggles — and whether it will…
The Strange Things We Do for Love
I have always been partial to the Everything But the Girl version of Mickey & Sylvia’s “Love Is Strange,” with those simple and straightforward lyrics: “Love, love is strange/Many people take it for a game/Once you’ve had it, you’re in an awful fix/’Cause after you’ve had it, you never want to quit.” EBTG’s lead vocalist…
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
Starting with its exclamation mark-embellished title through its ludicrous premise, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! is pure Pedro Almodóvar. The Spanish provocateur broke through with 1988’s Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, but it was Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! that would cement his reputation as a filmmaker of singular talents,…
Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction
Harry Dean Stanton has appeared in nearly 200 movies and television shows since his world-weary presence surfaced 60 years ago. Instantly recognizable yet never a household name, Stanton is a character actor of a certain type, an old-school throwback to the likes of Ward Bond or his contemporary Bruce Dern — guys who add gritty, if…
