First Day of Obamacare Snared by Website Errors
Ohioans who tried to obtain health insurance through HealthCare.gov , the online portal for Obamacare’s marketplaces, on its opening day likely ran into a few problems, ranging from delays to problems logging in. Before logging in, participants typically go through a waiting period that can last up to a few minutes. During this time, a…
Event: The Sunflower Festival
Gorman Heritage Farm gets even brighter as this year’s Sunflower Festival comes to full bloom. With acres of fresh-petaled plants to pick or photograph, games, great food and educational events planned for any age, what better way is there to get some sun if not with the flower of all festivals? 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday…
Event: Weekend of Fire
Spicy foods have turned into something of a pastime for people. Big questions surround hot foods, like: Can you eat a ghost pepper? How fast can you eat five atomic wings? And, most importantly, will you cry or puke after eating this? The seventh annual Jungle Jim’s Weekend of Fire sets out every year to…
Event: Nauti Nite
Penguins are known to be the most dapper animals of the animal kingdom; not even humans have it in them to wear a tuxedo all the time. You do, however, have the opportunity to have a formal evening with these well-dressed animals at the eighth annual Nauti Nite Fundraiser. The event raises money for the…
Art: Miller Gallery’s Contemporary Realism Invitational
Miller Gallery kicks off its 53rd season with its second biennial Contemporary Realism Invitational, featuring paintings by artists from around the globe. Realism preceded 20th century Modernism, which shook up the art world with ideas like Cubism, Expressionism and other avant-garde movements. Curated by Miller Gallery Director Rosemary Seidner, the exhibition will feature new works…
Event: Donauschwaben Oktoberfest
The first weekend in October brings with it the 21st annual Cincinnati Donauschwaben Society Oktoberfest — a weekend that offers up cultural celebration and high fives to heritage. The festival features food, fun, live German bands and activities for the entire family, including the kid-friendly Kinderplatz area with face painting, games and other activities. With…
Music: Charlie Wilson and King Reeves
Two of Cincinnati’s finest and most recognized veteran Jazz musicians — pianist Charlie Wilson and vibraphonist King Reeves — play together at the Blue Wisp, the first time ever at that venue. Even better, the show is free and relatively early to encourage those who work downtown to stay afterward and hear real Jazz. Wilson,…
Event: ArchiNATI
ArchiNATI has been Cincinnati’s premier architectural festival since 2011. This year’s festival theme is “Citizen Space,” highlighting the city’s publicly owned buildings and land. The fest kicks off with the Place from Space exhibition and event Friday night, showcasing the submissions for a design competition aimed at turning vacant spaces in Over-the-Rhine, Walnut Hills and…
Comedy: Dan Grueter
Dan Grueter is a former TV reporter and ad salesman who tried stand-up when he was transferred from Seattle back to Cleveland. He doesn’t miss broadcasting at all. “I can’t even watch local news,” he says. “No matter what town you go to, local news is all the same.” He adds, “You have to like…
Literary: Michael E. Keating
Emmy Award-winning photojournalist Michael E. Keating’s photographs graced the pages of The Cincinnati Enquirer for 34 years. That’s more than three decades of life in the Queen City, all of which is on display in the just-published Cincinnati: Shadow & Light, a handsomely rendered sampling of the photojournalist’s unique, emotionally incisive work — images that…
Event: Cincinnati Design Week
Home to some of the world’s best design agencies and schools, Cincinnati is on the forefront of global design. The wealth of resources and talent is unparalleled in the United States. Cincinnati Design Week celebrates our design prowess with a week of workshops, panel discussions, fashion shows, fundraisers and great parties. This week’s events include…
Event: TEDxCincinnati: Sound Ideas
In the spirit of curiosity and ideas worth spreading, TEDxCincinnati invites you to experience a local TED (technology, entertainment and design) conference at Memorial Hall. This year’s program, titled “Sound Ideas,” will feature an energizing mix of live talks and performances, streamed videos, audience participation and lively conversations with interesting people from different backgrounds. The…
Onstage: Seven Spots on the Sun
Many theaters across America brag about presenting world premieres, but few can rival the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, which this week opens a new work for the 68th time. Up-and-coming writer Martín Zimmerman’s new play is about mourning and loss in a Latin American village recovering from a brutal civil war. When a plague…
Onstage: Constella Festival of Music and Fine Art
Constella, a festival to celebrate and showcase the depth and breadth of musical and artistic life in Cincinnati, kicked-off Oct. 1. It presents unique collaborations between international artists and some of the city’s finest performing arts organizations. In addition to traditional chamber music, Constella brings world premieres of groundbreaking works, interweaving music, visual art and…
Deftones with Avenged Sevenfold & Ghost B.C.
The triumph of Deftones’ latest album, last year’s exultant and diverse Koi No Yokan, and the subsequent tour was more than slightly dampened in April with the passing of bassist Chi Cheng, who had been semi-comatose since a 2008 car accident. The band soldiered on with Quicksand’s Sergio Vega, whose contributions to both 2010’s Diamond…
City Launches Continuing Effort to Reduce Infant Mortality
Another effort to reduce Cincinnati's alarmingly high infant mortality rates launched today, which local leaders hope will help educate first-time parents in the city's most afflicted zip codes on proper ways to put their infants to sleep. The new city coalition created to address infant deaths, coined Cradle Cincinnati, announced an educational effort to address…
Morning News and Stuff
Have any questions for City Council candidates? Submit them here and we may ask your questions at this Saturday’s candidate forum. Early voting for the 2013 City Council and mayoral elections is now underway. Find your voting location here . Normal voting hours will be 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., although some days will be…
MPMF Day 3: This is the End, My Only Friend, the End
As is always the case, I am both mildly devastated and slightly relieved on the last night of MidPoint. I love the energy of this weekend every year, but my personal energy gets used up fairly quickly as the festival progresses. And the recharging stations that dot the landscape typically involve really delicious food that…
The Shook Twins
Hailing from the wilds of Idaho and now based in the teeming weirdness of Portland, Ore., identical twins Katelyn and Laurie Shook comprise half of the Shook Twins, their truthfully billed acoustic Folk outfit. Fleshed out with the talents of Kyle Volkman and Niko Daoussis, the Shook Twins utilize the standard aspects of Bluegrass and…
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes
Bruce Springsteen is the anointed Boss of the anthemic Jersey Shore sound, but when Jon Bon Jovi credits the guy who inspired him to sing like his life depended on it, he cites John Lyon, better known as Southside Johnny, as his primary muse. That’s a potent endorsement. Although Southside Johnny’s musical evolution followed a…
Olafur Arnalds
“I don’t want to become this predictable artist who always does the same thing. I would rather take a risk and try something else,” Icelandic musician and composer Ólafur Arnalds told Interview magazine when his fourth full-length album, For Now I Am Winter, was released in April. Sure enough, Arnalds is doing his damnedest to…
I Just Can’t Get Enough
One of the greatest television shows of all time came to an end Sunday with the series finale of Breaking Bad. Without going into spoilery detail about this last episode, the finale was truly satisfying for fans of the show. Often times, even great shows can have disappointing endings that leave storylines ambiguous and questions…
Mayor Touts Obamacare Outreach Efforts
Mayor Mark Mallory and other community officials today jumpstarted a six-month effort to enroll uninsured Cincinnatians into the Affordable Care Act’s (“Obamacare”) online marketplaces, which open for enrollment on Oct. 1. “This is not politics,” Mallory said. “Obamacare is now the law of the land.” The goal is to reach out to the 21 percent…
MPMF Day 3: Anchoring Down at the Taft
Great news, y’all! I made it through another MidPoint without getting raped or mugged. (Getting mugged might not be so bad, though. “No, officer, it was definitely not me who bought Duck Dynasty underwear at Walmart.”) I know you were concerned for my safety. I did MPMF quite a bit differently than I have in…
Morning News and Stuff
Have any questions for City Council candidates? Submit them here and CityBeat may ask your questions at this Saturday’s candidate forum. Early voting for the 2013 City Council and mayoral elections begins tomorrow. Find your voting location here . Normal voting hours will be 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., although some days will be extended.…
MPMF Day 2: MidPointing and Shouting
This is the midpoint of MidPoint, the second of the three holy days of September. A day of great adventure and great potential for misadventure that exceeds the anticipation of Day 1 and the inevitable denouement of Day 3. A day to love. But first you've got to get there, and an even longer drive…
Report: Pension Amendment Would Reduce Benefits
A Sept. 27 report from the conservative Buckeye Institute echoes claims made by both sides in Cincinnati’s pension debate: A tea party-backed amendment, if approved by voters on Nov. 5, would reduce retirement benefits for new city employees by one-third. At the same time, the city’s unfunded pension liability might be three times what officials…
MPMF Day 1: The Best Thursday Night Ever?
Last night was a glorious night for music and glorious music was made. Combinations don't get much better than that. Things didn't start so well, though; a quick e-mail on Wednesday revealed that, for a variety of reasons, my friend Matthew Fenton wouldn't be making his annual pilgrimage from Chicago to our fair festival. And…
Stage Door: Memory Lane
Perhaps this weekend you want to take a last-chance trip down Memory Lane. You have that option as the Showboat Majestic is wrapping up its production of Showboat Follies, the final show that Cincinnati Landmark Productions will stage on the historic vessel. It's a revue of songs and skits that should be fun if not…
MPMF Day 1: Box Trucks and Missing Kurt
Ahhhh, MidPoint! I look forward to it every year. September, for this lady, holds promise, romance, intrigue and MPMF. I started my MPMF.13 off right: grabbed a baller parking spot right after work in front of Coffee Emporium, grabbed a baller iced Americano and grabbed my (you thought I was going to say baller? How…
Your Weekend To Do List: 9/27-9/29
MPMF Weekend is upon us! Two nights of music still lie ahead, plus free events for all ages on the MidPoint MidWay. Parents can bring the little ones to KidPoint on the Midway from noon-4 p.m. Saturday, where family-friendly fun awaits — activities in the ArtWorks box trucks, street performers, interactive presentations from Cincinnati Ballet’s…
Morning News and Stuff
CityBeat is participating in a City Council candidate forum on Oct. 5. Have any questions you would like to ask candidates? Submit them here . State Auditor Dave Yost says he will investigate the potential conflicts of interest found by the Ohio Ethics Commission for nine of 22 top JobsOhio officials, including six of nine…
State Rep. John Becker Is a Sore Loser
When my brother and I were little kids, we used to play board games all the time, and because I was older and smarter I usually won. Back in those days, my little bro didn’t really understand the concept of sportsmanship and he would sometimes defiantly flip over the entire Stratego board when I started…
“State of Women in America” Report Ranks Ohio No. 30 Overall
In comparison to men, Ohio women have lower incomes, hold fewer leadership roles and disproportionately suffer from the state’s high infant mortality rate. The issues placed Ohio at No. 30 out of 50 states for women’s issues in a Sept. 25 report from the Center for American Progress (CAP) titled, “The State of Women in…
I Just Can’t Get Enough
New Orleans Hip Hop artist and “Queen of Bounce” Big Freedia was twerking back when Miley was still “Hannah.” Her booty-shaking anthems like “Azz Everywhere” command crowds to pop their shit — Cincy was lucky to get a taste of Big Freedia during the 2011 MidPoint Indie Summer Series. Now that the world has gotten…
Morning News and Stuff
CityBeat is participating in a City Council candidate forum on Oct. 5. Have any questions you would like to ask candidates? Submit them here. Ohio legislators appear ready to weaken environmental and energy regulations after months of lobbying by Akron, Ohio-based utility company FirstEnergy. The utility company argues the regulations, particularly energy efficiency standards that…
Obamacare Prices Lower than Expected
Health insurance premiums for the Affordable Care Act’s (“Obamacare”) marketplaces will be 16 percent lower than previously projected, according to the latest estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. The report , released on Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), comes less than one week before online marketplaces are set…
Biking MidPoint
With the addition of the Ballroom at the Taft Theatre and Mainstay Rock Bar, the footprint of this year's MidPoint Music Festival has expanded, stretching from East Liberty (where the Grammer's tent/Dewey's Pizza Stage is located) to Fifth Street, near Fountain Square. That's a hike, especially if you're trying to go from Over-the-Rhine to Downtown…
Interactive Music Biz E-Book to Debut at MPMF
There are a ton of performers at the MidPoint Music Festival that, while likely popular in their own hometowns, will be seen by many music lovers for the very first time. But there’s also a special debut that has only been previewed by a small number of music types. It’s not a band or solo…
Turning Film Dreams into Reality
How many times have you found yourself with an idea that could change your community for the better? If you had an opportunity to make your idea a reality, would you take it? These are two of the questions at the heart of the Greater Cincinnati Foundation’s Big Idea Challenge. The Foundation asked Cincinnati locals to submit…
City Wins EPA Award for Clean Energy
Cincinnati officials announced on Tuesday that the city had won a 2013 Green Power Leadership Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) because of local efforts to draw down dirty energy production and replace it with clean sources. The Cincinnati area currently produces nearly 408 million kilowatt-hours through green energy sources, which is enough…
The Teeth and Nothing But the Teeth
N ot a ton has changed for The Kickaways since 2011’s America! America! full-length debut. The Cincinnati/Dayton quartet still features the same lineup — vocalist Charlie Lynn, guitarist/vocalist Rémi Glistovski, bassist Jacob Ittle, drummer Adam Lambchop — and they continue to make a raucous, righteous racket in the key of Garage Soul, with hints of…
Paint It Black
W arpaint emits a hypnotic, groove-based blend of textures and emotions that could only have sprouted from the fertile imaginations of its four members. And while multiple touchstones come to mind when exposed to the quartet’s music (think Cat Power doing Cure covers), there’s a mysterious, unpredictable element to the band’s lush vocals and mood-altering…
Let’s Go METZ!
W hat’s up with the crazy amount of stellar bands hailing from north of the border these days? Come to think of it, Canada has long bred some of the best musical acts of the last four decades — from Neil Young and Joni Mitchell to Godspeed You! Black Emperor and The Arcade Fire, the…
Soul Under the Chestnutt Tree
T he music industry has a long and checkered history of using a certain mount of hyperbole to sell its product. And yet, as Bear Bryant noted and Muhammad Ali reiterated, it ain’t bragging if it’s true. More than a decade ago, Cody ChesnuTT sequestered himself in the bedroom studio he dubbed The Sonic Promiseland,…
Book ‘Em, Dan-O
T here are a lot of people who have, through music, worked hard to make the Cincinnati area a better place to live, from the musicians and fans to the music stores, club owners and beyond. A huge key to any city’s success — in terms of becoming/remaining a thriving metropolis that retains its young…
Morning News and Stuff
Councilman Chris Seelbach last night helped a gunshot victim before the man was taken to the hospital. Seelbach posted on Facebook that he was watching The Voice with his partner, Craig Schultz, when they heard gun shots. They went to their window and saw a man walking across Melindy Alley. When Seelbach asked what happened,…
Dig Deep Into MPMF 2013
Well before CityBeat acquired the MidPoint Music Festival (MPMF) in 2008, when it was mostly focused on unsigned artists, I vividly recall a close friend responding to my query about his possible attendance with a curt, “No, not going. Never heard of any of the bands.” My head spun. This was within the first few…
Cincinnati vs. the World 09.25.2013
The state of Ohio has to remove 7,200 healthy trees from the area surrounding the East Fork Lake State Park in Bethel because they’re considered “high-risk” from the invasive Asian long-horned beetle, which is basically the Once-ler of the bug world. CINCINNATI -2 In perhaps the least important technological discovery ever, one iPhone 5S user…
Council Denies Car Allowances
City Council’s Budget and Finance Committee on Sept. 24 unanimously stripped budget restorations that would have reinstated car allowances, paid work days and office budgets for the city government’s top earners, including the mayor, city manager and council members. Councilman Chris Seelbach said he hopes City Council’s decision will send “a signal to the administration…
Poverty on the Rise in Cincinnati
More than half of Cincinnati’s children live in poverty, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2012 American Community Survey released Sept. 19. The 2012 rate represents a roughly 10-percent increase in the city’s child poverty rate in the past two years. In 2010, 48 percent of locals younger than 18 were considered impoverished; in 2012,…
Food Stamp Restrictions to Hit 18,000 in Hamilton County
Gov. John Kasich’s refusal to seek another waiver for federal regulations on food stamps will force 18,000 current recipients in Hamilton County to meet work requirements if they want the benefits to continue. Under federal law, “able-bodied” childless adults receiving food stamps are required to work or attend work training for 20 hours a week.…
Worst Week Ever!: Sept. 18-24
Duke Energy Stops Insuring Retirees, Still Appreciates Life’s Work Remember when Cincinnatians owned their own electric company? What a hassle that was trying to keep track of which publicly employed official was jamming us up with the rates! Today we have no such problem, as Duke Energy’s executives go straight to the state’s Public Utilities…
Pure Romance to Remain in Ohio
Pure Romance on Sept. 24 announced that it is moving to downtown Cincinnati despite a decision from Gov. John Kasich’s administration to not grant tax credits to the $100 million-plus company, which hosts private adult parties and sells sex toys, lotions and other “relationship enhancement” products. Pure Romance will now move 60 jobs and its…
Let Them Eat Nothing?
In the middle of a state economy mired in stagnant growth, Gov. John Kasich and his fellow Republicans are attempting to weaken a key safety net that benefits more than 1.8 million Ohioans. Kasich’s administration is refusing to seek a federal waiver on work requirements for the state’s food stamp program, which means 134,000 “able-bodied,”…
Power Struggle
W hen FirstEnergy swooped into Cincinnati in June 2012, it arrived to welcoming arms and lavish praise when it was selected as the winning bidder in the city’s new energy aggregation program, a switch that ostensibly made Cincinnati the largest city in the country to use a 100-percent “green” energy supply. Since then, things have…
21st Century Bigots
In life, you expect at least some humans to be hateful bigots because, well, not everyone can be nice and stable, that’s just genetics. And it’s easy to find foreseeable xenophobes like the commenters on YouTube who get off saying anonymous mean things to people, kids and puppies in video threads; grandpas who fought in…
New Fall Bakeries and Coffee Shops
There are four new and noteworthy places to fuel up this month, whether your fuel of choice is caffeine, sugar or joie de vivre. French Crust Café and Holtman’s Donuts are two much-anticipated newly opened Vine Street destinations downtown and are definitely worth a special trip. French Crust Café (915 Vine St., Downtown, facebook.com/frenchcrustcafe) is…
Dear John
It is telling the way all roads lead back to the Midwest. The world acts like it doesn’t know where we stay until something untoward happens here or until one of us makes it and takes it to the world stage. The world converged here in 1990 when then-Contemporary Arts Center Director Dennis Barrie defended…
Commonwealth Bistro (Profile)
C hef Chris Burns cut his teeth in the kitchens of Jean-Robert de Cavel and Nicola Pietoso, but later this year he’ll finally see his very own restaurant open in Covington’s Mainstrasse Village. Commonwealth Bistro has been two-and-a-half years in the making for Burns and his wife Tess, the duo who founded The Awesome Collective,…
The Patience Stone
The enduring power of myth takes center stage in Afghani director Atiq Rahimi’s new film, The Patience Stone, which transplants magic and mythology in the modern world with stunning results. This is the story of a woman (Golshifteh Farahani) who married a much older man (Hamid Djavadan), a fighter in the ongoing conflicts in his…
Enough Said
Nicole Holofcener’s latest film, Enough Said, arrives burdened with the sad realization that it features one of the final recorded performances of James Gandolfini, but what we would be wise to focus on is the cause for celebration contained in that performance. Enough Said is the story of Eva (Emmy Award winner Julia Louis-Dreyfus), a…
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2
This kiddie foodie adventure sequel continues by exploring the impact of Flint Lockwood’s amazing invention as it keeps on spitting out mutant food products that have morphed into menacing food-animal hybrids. The pun-based hijinks get souped up here to dangerous levels, but the voice cast, featuring Bill Hader, Anna Faris, Will Forte and Neil Patrick…
Baggage Claim
Montana Moore (Paula Patton) fears she may wind up as the oldest single woman in her extended family, so she concocts an intentional plan to change her situation, embarking on a month-long quest — spread out over 30,000 miles — to snag a fiancé. Writer-director David E. Talbert’s premise strays even further into rom-com fantasy,…
Pawnee Goes International for ‘Parks and Rec’ Season Six
Get ready to treat yo’self, because Parks and Recreation (8 p.m. Thursdays, NBC) is back with an hour-long premiere this week. This sixth season opens with the Pawnee crew in London, where Leslie is honored with an international “Women in Government” award. Expect Leslie, Ben, April and Andy to take in the sights as Ron…
Joseph Gordon-Levitt Seeks Real Love
What a way to kick off the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. I started off breaking what I assumed would be one of my cardinal rules. I didn’t want to see anything that would open too soon after I returned back to Cincinnati. The plan and purpose was to scout for films that would roll…
Photographer Amy Hildebrand Finds Her Vision Through the Lens
T here’s a secret behind Amy Hildebrand’s photography — a secret that I was never able to guess when we first met. As she peered through her camera lens and snapped images of my boyfriend and me with ease, she asked us to share our memories. Eventually, she shared some of her own and her…
Painter Martin Tucker Loved the Supermarket
The current Martin Tucker: Remembered exhibit at the DAAP Galleries on the University of Cincinnati campus spotlights a local artist — a retired art professor who died this year — whose work showed a keen eye for the seductive, colorful quality of American consumer culture. The show, curated by DAAP Galleries Director Aaron Cowan from…
Photographic Memories
M ight a picture be worth a thousand songs? It’s possible that a photograph, as much as an MP3 player full of tunes or a head full of memories, is the best way to recall attending a concert by a favorite act. Not just something shot far from the stage on your shaky iPhone, but…
Latest MidPoint Music Festival Updates
If you are reading this at citybeat.com or in the hard-copy newspaper edition, you likely know that there’s a music festival going on in Cincinnati this week. MidPoint Music Festival returns for its 12th year this Thursday-Saturday, featuring more than 175 performers (including numerous Cincinnati-area acts) on stages spread throughout the Downtown and Over-the-Rhine neighborhoods.…
Resilient Rebellion
In August 2010, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (BRMC) suffered a loss that left the band’s future in question. Singer/bassist Robert Levon Been’s father, Michael Been, died of a heart attack while the band was in Belgium for a show at the Pukkelpop festival. Michael, former bassist and singer of the acclaimed ’80s/’90s band The Call,…
Ghost: The Musical (Review)
If you’re a fan of romantic films, you’re surely familiar with Ghost from 1990. It’s the story of a young couple — she’s an artist, he’s a banker — who is separated by a seemingly random crime. But there’s more to it than that, and his departed spirit isn’t free to move on until he…
