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Pathetic might be the best way to assess CityBeat‘s ranking in the ANNUAL SCRIPPS SPELLING BEE FOR LITERACY. Fortunately, we have a lot of gumption. After last year’s defeat (thanks to a mis-speaking of the spelling), we’re determined to embarrass ourselves again. Really, we have nothing better to do. Only a Best of Cincinnati issue to put out at the end of the month that’s causing the staff to lose hair in places we didn’t know we had hair. But we gladly take a break from our increasingly insane lives to look like fools. It’s what we live for. Well, that and helping out a good cause. Corporations ante up a $750 entry fee which benefits THE LITERACY NETWORK OF GREATER CINCINNATI and its outreach programs. A representative team of three heads to the Cincinnati Museum Center at 1 p.m.
Thursday to do the good old-fashioned round robin spelling bee. Mean-while, The Literacy Network racks ups dough to support screenings, classes and tutors to benefit the estimated 13 to 20 percent of U.S. adults who are functionally illiterate. Speaking in specific numbers, that translates into more than 200,000 adults in the Greater Cincinnati area. That, of course, doesn’t include the children who suffer reading difficulties, but who can also benefit from The Literacy Network. For more information, call 513-621-READ. …
OK, so this mental patient escapes from the institution. He needs to clear his head as well as the mystery surrounding his grandfather’s alleged suicide. Naturally he employs the help of his marijuana-addicted friend, because what else would one do in this situation? A dozen diamonds, missing since a 1964 jewel heist, are a perfectly sane excuse for deception, murder and entanglements with the mob. Oh, and don’t forget the drunken businessmen, the Miami tour service and a random practical joke. Truth is supposed to be stranger than fiction, unless the fiction is written by author TIM DORSEY, who will appear at Joseph-Beth Booksellers at 7 p.m. Tuesday. His latest adventure, Cadillac Beach, once again follows the wonderfully bizarre pairing of Serge and Lenny and sparkles with a trunk full of oddities. 513-396-8960. …
The lineup for the POETRY IN THE GARDEN series at THE PUBLIC LIBRARY OF CINCINNATI AND HAMILTON COUNTY has been announced. The program shines a light on local poets while celebrating National Poetry Month. Yes, it is an actual declared month, one with more prestige than, say, National Aluminum Foil Month. Every Wednesday at 7 p.m. during April, two poets will converge to read and share insight. Nancy Kangas and Obalaye Macharia are first up on April 7. Michelle Boisseau and Will Toedtman take April 14 with Tim Riordan and Richard Taylor on April 21. Finishing off the month is Sarah Perrier and Mark Halliday. More information spotlighting the event will be found in an upcoming CityBeat. That was just intended to get your mouth-watering. For more information, call 513-369-6945.
Mini Review
Charles E. Brooks — A Guide to Cincinnati’s Historic Firehouses (M.T. Publishing Company) Former Cincinnatian photographer Charles E. Brooks, recently transplanted to Arizona, left the town in a blaze — or at least in anticipation of one. In conjunction with the Cincinnati Fire Museum, Brooks aimed to capture the current state of firehouses, some of which date back to the 1860s. The effect, a tribute to the Cincinnati Fire Department’s 150th anniversary, is rather waterlogged. Brooks’ photographs are interesting, juxtaposed with archival images, where applicable. The compare/contrast fashion works to an extent, but the overall design of the book is bland. Brooks’ previous work, Journey Across China, was beautifully displayed, but here the rich detail one would expect from such an architecturally potent source material appears ashen. The text, such as it is, does little to enhance the spread. A multi-page narrative timeline of sorts that kicks off the book is interesting enough. The hit-and-run facts for each individual firehouse, however, crash in their attempt to kindle insight. Certainly, there’s more tantalizing dish to serve than the date a firehouse changed location. Aren’t there any stories still smoldering concerning construction of these buildings or the men within the walls who, one must assume, braved their lives? If this publication is any indication of an answer, then there’s nary a spark. (BRANDON BRADY) Grade: C-
This article appears in Mar 17-23, 2004.