Morning News and Stuff
Good morning folks. Let’s talk about news today, eh? First off, let me tell you about Mayor John Cranley’s second State of the City speech, which he gave to a crowd of about 700 movers, shakers and awkward journalists (at least one awkward journalist) last night at Great American Ball Park. The mayor is obligated…
Cincinnati Among Top Cities for Growth in Bicycle Commuting
You may have seen recent 2014 American Community Survey data released by the U.S. Census Bureau showing that bicycle commuting continues to rise. Cincinnati has been one of the cities leading the way in that growth, it turns out. The League of American Bicyclists recently analyzed those ACS numbers and came up with data showing…
Morning News and Stuff
Hello all. Hope you enjoyed your weekend. Yesterday was the ideal day weatherwise, so if you stayed inside all day, well, that sucks for you. I went to a pumpkin festival at Lobenstein farms in Indiana, where I got a strange white pumpkin that I believe is probably haunted. I also had the best pumpkin…
Morning News and Stuff
Hey all! Here’s a brief news rundown for your Friday. Let’s get to the weekend already. Is a charter school coming to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center? It could happen, The Cincinnati Enquirer reports. Carpe Diem is a charter sponsored by Cincinnati Public Schools that operates out of Aiken High School. The school has…
Beyond the Books
It was a dim and smallish room I entered for my third library event, and at first I thought I was lost. I was in the main branch of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, and after searching unsuccessfully decided to follow someone, who mercifully led me to the right room. “Headlines and…
Your Weekend To Do List (10/2-10/4)
FRIDAY Louis conducts LOVE FORBIDDEN The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra rules when it comes to mashing up live music with images. But this week, the orchestra takes on a more formidable challenge: performing Arnold Schoenberg’s symphonic tone poem Pelléas und Mélisande with visual accompaniment of projections and video created by innovative young director, production designer and…
Stage Door
Sex is pretty much a constant presence in life as we know it, and it’s often a driving force in plays, taking on many shapes and outcomes. That’s particularly the case with two shows that just opened locally, Laura Eason’s new play, Sex with Strangers, at the Cincinnati Playhouse on its Shelterhouse stage through Oct.…
Morning News and Stuff
Hey hey! Good morning Cincy. How’s it going? Here’s what’s up in the news today. Yesterday the city officially announced the results of a long-awaited study about disparities in the companies it hires to take on taxpayer-funded projects as well as several measures it plans to take to address those inequities. According to the Croson…
Time Out of Mind
Director Oren Moverman’s Time Out of Mind has suffered a fate similar to its protagonist George (Richard Gere), a homeless man who, after wandering the streets, seeks refuge at a Manhattan intake center. George strikes up a friendship with another man (Ben Vereen) in need and begins to make an attempt to reach out to…
Sleeping with Other People
Coming on the heels of Amy Schumer’s Trainwreck, writer-director Leslye Headland’s Sleeping With Other People comes across like the sly, slutty younger cousin defiantly sashaying on the other side of the street, but still clocking what’s going on in the spotlight. Jake (Jason Sudeikis) and Lainey (Alison Brie) lose their virginity to each other in…
Shanghai
Curiously, this dramatic romantic mystery from director Mikael Håfström (The Rite and Escape Plan) and screenwriter Hossein Amini (Drive and 47 Ronin) wallowed on the shelf for years before getting this delayed release in theaters. It could be due to the period setting — the early 1940s, before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor —…
Mississippi Grind
Having met while studying together at New York University, Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck seemingly enjoy their status as multi-hyphenate indie filmmakers — from their feature run with Half Nelson to Sugar, before attracting greater attention and recognizable stars on It’s Kind of a Funny Story and now Mississippi Grind — never straying too far…
The Martian
Ridley Scott’s latest take on the sci-fi genre positions audiences in an alternative not-so distant future where NASA hasn’t abandoned the idea of exploration and colonization on Mars. A freak storm escalates, forcing a team to pull up stakes and head off sooner than expected. During the hurried escape, astronaut Mark Watney (Matt Damon) gets…
Journalists Dig into the Actual Police-Shooting Numbers
Some serious journalists are counting people shot and killed by police and police who are murdered by people they are sworn to protect and serve. We’ve seen both in Cincinnati this year. Officer Sonny Kim was assassinated by Trepierre Hummons. Other officers shot and killed Hummons. Unarmed Samuel DuBose was shot and killed by UC police…
Onstage: Love Forbidden: Louis Conducts the Pelléas Story
The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra rules when it comes to mashing up live music with images. But this week, the orchestra takes on a more formidable challenge: performing Arnold Schoenberg’s symphonic tone poem Pelléas und Mélisande with visual accompaniment of projections and video created by innovative young director, production designer and visual artist James Darrah. “This…
City Unveils Efforts to Address Contracting Disparities
City of Cincinnati officials today unveiled the final draft of a long-awaited study of gender and racial disparities in the city’s contracting practices, as well as ordinances that might address some of those inequalities, including race and gender based requirements for contractors. The so-called Croson Study shows that between 2009 and 2013, black-owned businesses were…
Event: Neil DeGrasse Tyson
If you watch Cosmos, enjoy science and reason or think that Pluto really just doesn’t deserve to be a planet, then get excited, because Neil deGrasse Tyson is coming to Cincinnati. The acclaimed astrophysicist, author and Twitter user, renowned for his ability to communicate complicated scientific ideas to the masses, will transport his audience from…
Onstage: Sounds of Simon and Garfunkel
The Cincinnati Pops frequently perform Pop music — they take on live orchestrations of popular film scores, bring in celebrity guests (like Seinfeld’s and Broadway’s Jason Alexander in March 2016) and collaborate with musical groups like Pink Martini. This weekend, they’re going Folk and performing the Sounds of Simon and Garfunkel. Guest vocalists and guitarists…
Event: SuicideGirls
Avid Instagram users might recognize SuicideGirls as the adult lifestyle brand that catapults pierced and tattooed models to social media fame (or you just might be a member of their online community), but the company also produces a burlesque show, which will be making a stop here in Cincinnati. Their tongue-in-cheek humor, choreography and provocative…
Event: Tri-State Antique Market
The final Tri-State Antique Market of the season takes over the Lawrenceburg Indiana Fairgrounds with more than 200 antiques and vintage-only dealers. From estate jewelry and Civil War tintype to 19th-century primitives and Pop Art, everything must be at least 30 years old and out of production. It’s a show for collectors and casual shoppers…
Sports: Bengals vs. Chiefs
Fresh off an epic back-and-forth battle on the road against the division-rival Ravens, the undefeated Who Deys return to Paul Brown Stadium to host Kansas City. Can Andy Dalton and all his cool skill players score on the Chiefs’ D? Will Kansas City be angry after getting whomped by the Packers on Monday Night Football?…
Music: Tannahill Weavers
If you are a fan of Celtic music, this week’s visit by Scotland’s greatest purveyors of the traditional sound, Tannahill Weavers, is a serious must-see event. The group formed in 1968 in Paisley, Scotland (near Glasgow) and has since become an international ambassador for the Scottish-slanted brand of Celtic music. While certainly dependent on the…
Art: Light Strikes at the Kennedy Heights Arts Center
To celebrate the opening of the new Kennedy Heights Cultural Campus annex in September, the Kennedy Heights Arts Center debuted Light Strikes, an exhibition of large-scale installations within its newest 9,000-square-foot gallery; it closes Saturday. Two artist collectives — Intermedio and Team B — as well as three individual artists — Sean Mullaney, Karen Saunders…
Event: Naija Fest
The Nigerian Association of Greater Cincinnati Area presents Naija Fest, a celebration of Nigeria’s independence. This year marks Nigeria’s 55th year as a free country, and this fest highlights the art and culture of the country with Nigerian dances, music, food and fashion. Noon-10 p.m. Saturday. Free. Fountain Square, Fifth and Vine streets, Downtown, myfountainsquare.com.
Event: Weekend of Fire
A great hot sauce can really put the right kick in your dish, and that’s what Jungle Jim’s Weekend of Fire is all about. Whether you consider yourself courageous enough to test the hottest varieties available or if you can’t stand anything beyond “mild,” Weekend of Fire has that sauce you’ve been dreaming of —…
Event: Sunflower Festival
This annual festival, hosted by Gorman Heritage Farm, includes all the fun of fall with a few twists. Jump on a mule-drawn wagon ride through the sunflower fields. Don’t just pick a pumpkin; fling it from a pumpkin launch. Gather your own bouquet of sunflowers, or wander a corn maze, get your face painted and…
Halloween: HallZOOween
Kids and animals alike are in for a special treat during the Cincinnati Zoo’s HallZOOween festival. This family-friendly Halloween celebration features trick-or-treat stations for the kids, costumed characters, a Hogwarts Express train ride and special pumpkin playtime for elephants, otters, meerkats and more. Bring your own treat bag to stuff with goodies and hunt for…
Event: The Kentucky Wool Festival
The Kentucky Wool Festival: a celebration of sheep and the fleece we shear off them. Wander through tables of crafts with local pottery, accessories, homemade soaps and candles and wooden items of every kind. Stop by the wool tent for demonstrations of combing, wet felting, sheep shearing and Turkish spindling. Then grab a chocolate-dipped pie…
Event: Motoberfest
Formerly known as the Queen City Mods and Rockers Rally, “Motoberfest” is a weekend celebration of café and vintage motorcycles and scooters themed around Cincinnati’s German brewing heritage. The festival features motorcycle stunt shows, an opportunity to show off your ride in a judged bike show, group rides, art shows, live music, brewery tours and…
Onstage: Extremities
This will be a test. Following a sold-out summer of musicals, the Incline Theater turns to far more serious fare with William Mastrosimone’s searing and controversial drama about the victim of an attempted rape who gets the upper hand on her attacker and contemplates vengeance. It’s not the kind of show that Cincinnati Landmark Productions…
Onstage: Pentecost
Theater programs at our universities in Greater Cincinnati often produce shows that not only offer educational opportunities for students, but also expose us to works we have lost track of or missed. David Edgar’s Pentecost is such a work, and it accomplishes what Richard Hess likes to do — challenge audiences. The head of the…
New Fall Brews
I t’s officially fall, so prepare for ciders, more pumpkin beers and hopefully some seasonals that have nothing to do with autumn from your favorite local breweries. (Thankfully, no Christmas beers yet.) And despite the weather shifting, beer festivals keep chugging away. New Beers • MadTree just did a bottle release of their Tequila Tiamat saison,…
The Dream of the ’90s Is Alive on The Splat
Remember the golden years of Nickelodeon? You know, Tommy Pickles, orange blimps, Ren & Stimpy, Stick Stickly, gak? Well, just like No Doubt, the tattoo choker and Good Burger — thanks, Jimmy Fallon — ’90s Nick shows are making a comeback, too. Taking full advantage of the cash cow that is Millennial nostalgia, The Splat…
‘Sicario’ Brings Us Face-to-Face with the Void
Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) is in over her head. A tactical FBI agent with a solid record, the willingness to take the kill-shot without hesitation and no life outside work to speak of, Macer is the perfect audience stand-in in Sicario, the latest journey into the heart of darkness masterminded by Canadian director Denis Villeneuve.…
ArtsWave Launches New Cincy Arts Guide Calendar
There are a lot of ways to stay on top of what’s happening in the arts in Greater Cincinnati — like reading arts and culture coverage in CityBeat every week. But finding a comprehensive calendar that covers the full array of the arts has been an elusive dream. Not so much now, thanks to ArtsWave,…
CSO Partners with James Darrah for Multi-Year, Multi-Media Series
The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra rules when it comes to mashing up live music with images. But this week, the orchestra takes on a more formidable challenge: performing Arnold Schoenberg’s symphonic tone poem Pelléas und Mélisande with visual accompaniment of projections and video created by innovative young director, production designer and visual artist James Darrah. “This…
Struggling with Understanding: CCM’s ‘Pentecost’
Theater programs at our universities in Greater Cincinnati often produce shows that not only offer educational opportunities for students, but also expose us to works we have lost track of or missed. David Edgar’s Pentecost is such a work, and it accomplishes what Richard Hess likes to do — challenge audiences. The head of the…
Land Art
F or those wondering what James Crump — the former Cincinnati Art Museum chief curator and photography curator — has been doing since he resigned in 2013, the answer is being presented this week in both Los Angeles and New York. On Sept. 29, the new documentary he produced and directed — Troublemakers: The Story…
Morning News and Stuff
Good morning, Cincinnati! Here are your morning headlines. • Campbell County Schools Superintendent Glen Miller abruptly announced his retirement after he was charged with domestic violence. Miller has been on paid administrative leave since he was arrested last Wednesday night at his Erlanger home after his daughter called 911 to report that he has struck…
The 22 Emojis Cincinnati Needs for Expressing Life in the Queen City
3-WAY What it is: The quintessential Cincinnati chili dish and go-to B-roll for national media covering sporting events in town. Doubles as an excellent drunk food or kind-of-heavy lunch. When to use it: When it’s Skyline Time™ or you’re hungry and don’t want to wait more than 15 seconds for your food to be plated…
Southwestern Ohio on Verge of Losing Last Abortion Providers
Ohio Department of Health officials on Sept. 25 denied licenses to perform abortions for the last two remaining clinics in southwestern Ohio. Both clinics were in danger of closing at the end of the month, but a federal judge on Sept. 28 ruled they must be allowed to stay open until appeals to the ODH’s…
Fall of the House of Boehner
T he clouds had been gathering over U.S. Rep. John Boehner from nearly the moment he started his tenure as House Speaker in 2011. Last week, the storm of discontent from far-right Republicans in Congress finally ushered him out, underlining deep faults in the country’s political landscape and leaving voids that could be filled by…
Exit Through the Gift Shop
It took the visit of the Holy Father, His Excellency the Pope for John Boehner to come to his senses and be the sacrificial lamb his Grand Old Party of Republican hard-hearts needed to advance their agenda. They will all get their collective wish come the end of October when Boehner rests his speaker’s gavel…
Worst Week Ever! Sept. 30-Oct. 06
Hedge Fund Manager with Power to Put Profits over Human Lives Does Exactly That If humanity has taught us anything, it’s that given the opportunity to make some money, people will do the most vile and inhumane things to one another in order to do just that. Our species’ latent desire to do this might…
Music: Gang of Four
Let’s get it out of the way at the start — Gang of Four’s 1979 debut, Entertainment, is among the landmark albums of the last 40 years, a politically charged, sonically angular slap in the face that remains as visceral as the day it surfaced. It went on to influence everyone from R.E.M. and Nirvana…
Sound Advice: Gang of Four with The New Regime and Evening Redness
Let’s get it out of the way at the start — Gang of Four’s 1979 debut, Entertainment, is among the landmark albums of the last 40 years, a politically charged, sonically angular slap in the face that remains as visceral as the day it surfaced. It went on to influence everyone from R.E.M. and Nirvana…
Music: Built to Spill
“All Our Songs,” the lead track on Built to Spill’s latest record, Untethered Moon, is an unabashed celebration of the band’s 23-year-existence, featuring six minutes of guitar-soaring bliss that includes this admission of contentment from enduring frontman Doug Martsch: “And I found a place/Where I know I’ll always be tethered/And I knew when I woke…
Sound Advice: Built to Spill with Helvetia and Clarke and the Himselfs
“All Our Songs,” the lead track on Built to Spill’s latest record, Untethered Moon, is an unabashed celebration of the band’s 23-year-existence, featuring six minutes of guitar-soaring bliss that includes this admission of contentment from enduring frontman Doug Martsch: “And I found a place/Where I know I’ll always be tethered/And I knew when I woke…
Music: Reckless Kelly
All things Austin, Texas, have been coming to a head the last few years in the music world. Always a great music town, the scene has blown up to almost too-big proportions, with the South By Southwest festival growing to seemingly unsustainable levels. Reckless Kelly, however, has been walking the streets of Austin since the…
Sound Advice: Reckless Kelly with Noah Smith
All things Austin, Texas, have been coming to a head the last few years in the music world. Always a great music town, the scene has blown up to almost too-big proportions, with the South By Southwest festival growing to seemingly unsustainable levels. Reckless Kelly, however, has been walking the streets of Austin since the…
Music: Grooms
In a realization similar to my ex-wife’s, Travis Johnson concluded back in 2009 he’d made a terrible mistake and had to do something to correct it. Johnson’s dilemma was infinitely simpler; he merely had to change the name of his band from Muggabears to the more elegant and evocative Grooms. What didn’t change was the…
Sound Advice: Grooms with A Place to Bury Strangers and Leggy
In a realization similar to my ex-wife’s, Travis Johnson concluded back in 2009 he’d made a terrible mistake and had to do something to correct it. Johnson’s dilemma was infinitely simpler; he merely had to change the name of his band from Muggabears to the more elegant and evocative Grooms. What didn’t change was the…
R.I.P. Kevin Donahue
Kevin Donahue was an enigmatic “character” around Cincinnati, one of those people every city of reasonable size has a few of — someone who you consistently spot randomly walking down the street and, due to his distinct look, instantly recognize. Donahue’s tall frame and lumbering, frazzled swagger made him hard to miss. Due to such…
Dope Pope to Drop Debut Album
HOT: Dope Pope to Drop Debut Album Popes releasing albums actually isn’t that unusual. Though they were all taken from masses and speeches, Pope Paul VI put out more material in the ’60s than Nirvana did its entire career. Pope John Paul II raised the bar in 1979 with his live jam, Sings At The…
Making Another Great ’Point
T he MidPoint Music Festival returned to venues in Over-the-Rhine and downtown Sept. 25-27 for its 14th-annual event, once again offering open-minded music fans a buffet of stimulating sounds by mostly newer artists both known and up-and-coming. While there was still a great MPMF-related energy swirling around the area, there was a more laidback feel…
