Soho sushi

What's better than dinner with friends? When dinner turns into a Sushi Rampage! With about 10 people, this was a three week in the making sushi date. We hit Soho on its second night of evening hours. The staff was so friendly and accommodating, including allowing us behind the counter to see the inner workings of some of the machines.

Of course, if you're making sushi, you need the 50 pound bag of rice

I know some critics say it's the Chipotle of sushi but here's what's so great about it: You can get either a seaweed wrap or a soy wrap with the rice inside the wrap. If you ask, they'll also put the rice on the outside instead. If your're not feeling adventurous or are a sushi novice, there are some very tasty standard rolls suggested on the menu. And if you want to be creative, you can make all the choices, get as crazy as you want and not feel like you're spending a boatload of money. I choose both a standard with chicken and I got creative with crab, avacado and some other fixings. The staff will offer suggestions too, which is where the avacado comes in. I'm not a big fan of avacado, but this roll was fantastic. Since there were so many of us, we did a lot of sharing so everyone got to try several different rolls.

All in all, a very enjoyable and affordable dinner choice.

Cassidy's Surprise

A kitten is in the animal world, what a rosebud is in the garden.
-Unknown

If there's one thing I'm a sucker for, it's baby animals and specifically, kittens of any kind. Cassidy recently got a kitten and since she's going to be away for a few weeks, I offerred to bring her home with me and return her when we meet for vacation. She didn't go for what I thought was a splendid idea. I did get some photos of the new kitten, Mai. You just can't find something much more adorable than a new kitten, really.

All or Nothing

Does anything in this video look familiar? If you've spent time in downtown Cincinnati, it might.

The George Moss video, filmed last month, was released yesterday. Everything in this video, except the club scenes was filmed in our condo, the building's roof and on Cincinnati streets in the downtown area. Moss is a Christian rap/hip hop/r & b artist from Grand Rapids, Michigan who came to Cincinnati to film his first music video. This video is actually the first two tracks from his cd; the first minute or so is his spoken word first track The Young Black Falcon and All or Nothing starts when the music kicks in. He sent us a copy of the cd. The whole thing is great; I've basically taken it from 5chw4r7z and play it in my car regularly. Enjoy...

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There Might Be Something To This Twitter Thing

I took the morning off last Thursday to do an interview about Twitter with Fox 19. While I'm not Cincinnati's most prolific blogger, I was happy to help them with this story. One of the things they explored is the way local govermental offices have begun using twitter. The Cincinnati Police Dept has a twitter account now, which I've looked at. the only problem is, you have to know the boundaries of each district to know if what they're tweeting about affects you. Cincinnati Public Services office has a twitter stream under CincinnatiSnow which I would likely find useful as well as the ODOT Cincinnati stream. For those of you who missed it, or who live out of town, here's the link to the story:

Mr. Jones & Me

Well, since I missed Dhani Jones first photography exhibit, I made it a point to go to the opening of Senegal, Jones' second exhibit. I'm guessing he took these while filming another season of Dhani Tackles the Globe, his Travel Channel series. Check out the exhibit; he is a talented photographer.

Smiling in the bright lights,
Coming through in stereo,
When everybody loves you, you can never be lonely.
-Counting Crows, Mr. Jones

The Amazing Race Cincinnati Style

Kate certainly knows how to throw a party. For her recent birthday, she arranged a very small party beginning with cocktails at Scott's house. She then arranged three teams of four people each and started handing out clues to each team. It was a race around the city with the first stop at Grammar's. At drinking establishments, she arranged to have bartenders hand out the clues. Bonus: several of the clues had a tidbit of Cincinnati history.

Some of our fellow competitors
Next stop was Holy Cross Immaculata Church in Mt. Adams where each team found a lit votive and a clue leading to the Blind Lemon. The hardest part of this stop was finding a free legal parking place. Luckily 5chw4r7z was on the lookout, managing to find a legal space and what a good thing that was. Some unlucky car was being towed as we headed out of Mt. Adams and off to Race St.

This is where things really got interesting because we over-thought the clue and headed to Yum-Yum. The nice old couple who own the restaurant noticed the ruckus outside (and Brian looking under the door mat for a clue) and came out to see what was going on. They had no clue, literally and figuratively as to what was going on, but let us take a picture with them to add to the fun.

The clue we were looking for, taped to a wall down the street, led us to Tonic on Fourth.
Tonic, and the adjoining Local 127 are two of my favorite new downtown establishments. But that's a post for another day. With a drink here, added to the several before it, Kate expected us to do math! The equations revealed the address and street where the contest finished, which we already knew but went through the exercise just for fun. Now here's where we thought we were going to win- you had to have a 1976 coin with you when you arrived at the destination. We were close enough to casa de 5chw4r7z to go home where we found not only a coin from the year of her birth, but a bicentennial quarter. Alas, the prize was within our grasp- except for the fact that we were too slow and another team beat us there with a coin from '76. At least we weren't after the million dollars.

Local 127

Local 127 has opened in the former Pigall's on Fourth Street. 5chw4r7z and I were actually intending to have drinks next door at the lounge formerly known as Twist. The former Twist location won't be open for another two weeks. So we winged it, as usual, and decided to check out Local 127.



Local 127 bills itself as a New American Eatery. The menu sounds like it will change regualrly based on local availability of ingredients. For instance, we were told this would be the last week for locally grown tomatoes. Local 127 prides itself on using only local source ingredients; from the farm to the table.

First stop: the bar (of course) where we were able to take in the decor of the entire lower level while chatting with bartenders Jody and Laura. We also met managers Craig and Christina who outlined some of the previously mentioned philosophy and mission for the restaurant. There was an excited, expectant energy in the air, very similar to opening night of a play. The staff were doing final preparations and waiting for the audience-er, customers, to arrive.

Next: Tours of the establishment including the meeting/party room, upstairs lounge and kitchen, which was, by the way, immaculate. There are plans to have a chef's table in the future where small groups would have an opportunity to be in the kitchen and see their food being prepared.



Last: We tried the Kentucky Bourbon Sundae. One word to describe it: RICH. This is undoubtedly a dessert to be shared and way more than one patron would likely want to consume on their own, especially after a full meal. I tasted a hint of coconut on the first bite that quickly gave way to the bourbon taste. Now, I'm not a bourbon connoisseur at all, but I thought the amount of bourbon was perfect. There was definitely more than a taste but it wasn't overpowering.



Tonight was truly a delightful experience at what is sure to become one of Cincinnati's premiere dining establishments.

Cincinnatians For Progress at the DRC

Tuesday evening the Downtown Residents Council invited representatives from Cincinnatians For Progress and COAST to give presentations for and against the proposed acquisition and passenger rail charter amendment. Knowing this is a hotly debated topic with passions running high on both sides, DRC saved the presentations for last, allowing only 20 minutes before a vote allowing the meeting to continue another 15 minutes.

This amendment is not only about the streetcar. If the amendment passes, each and every rail project would be subject to a public vote, increasing a project's cost and causing delays. This includes a public vote on projects that don't have tax increases attached. The DRC notes that the first project most likely to be affected is the proposed inter-city rail that would connect Cincinnati, Columbus and Cleveland. If this amendment succeeds, we could be left out of the economic loop and all the dollars that entails. There are plans for the inter-city rail to extend all the way to Indianapolis and Chicago. I can actively see myself taking high speed rail to all the cities listed. Passenger rail could offer another alternative means to come to Cincinnati other than through our high-cost airport. John Schneider of Cincinnatians for Progress noted there are only two cities in the top 25 that don't have rail transportation: San Antonio and, you guessed it, Cincinnati. Mark Miller of COAST admitted passenger rail is a good thing in some cities (but apparently not ours, in his opinion).

Mr. Miller said his organization is going after city councilMEN to take a no tax pledge. Ms. Cole, Ms. Ghiz and Ms. Qualls, are you listening? You won't have to worry about being targeted for a no-tax pledge since, apparently, COAST must think only men are on city council. But why have a representative government in the first place? Miller stated city government "Doesn't trust the voters (and) wants to deceive the voters". Miller further claims he's "Not opposed to transit" but his group was formed specifically to defeat this ballot issue. He also believes taxes will go up for transit initiatives, he has no trust in city government but nothing to back up his belief. By the way, the president of Miller's organization lives in Blue Ash (well outside the city limits) and most members don't even live in the city limits.

Now let's bring up the 'S' word since that's what so many people think that's what this initiative is about. 8 of 9 city council members support the streetcar initiative as do 16 of 18 council candidates. Have you been downtown during rush hour? Or on a Friday or Saturday night? The streetcar would reduce some of this congestion since it would run seven days a week and every 10 minutes during peak traffic periods. Construction of the initial streetcar line would spur economic development along and adjacent to the route including residential construction or renovation, shops, businesses, restaurants and the like. Over the course of the first 15 years, the initial Downtown Loop would help create $1.5 billion in new economic development. Cincinnati would see $17 million each year in new consumer spending because of the streetcar. All this economic activity results in earnings, property and sales taxes which would help decrease the burden on state and local government as well as help out Cincinnati Public Schools.

Please take some time to critically assess this initiative as a whole and how it could critically affect the future and potential economic growth of our city and consider voting 'no' on the initiative.

Vagina Monologues

Eve Ensler's Vagina Monologues opened Friday night at Newport's Falcon Theater and WOW, what a show. It's been years since I've seen the entire show as an audience member and it was a thoroughly enjoyable and fresh experience. For starters, it's the first production I've seen that involved a man as part of the cast. The sole male cast member served in a narrator-type capacity, dispensing mostly vagina "happy facts" along with a few not so happy facts. The stage was adorned with various styles of chairs for the rest of the cast and solo monologues were given mostly standing. I need to reveal that I've done three V-Day productions of Monologues- one through Youngstown State and two with Kent State Trumbull, all productions directed by men, as was this production also. If you're a woman, and it doesn't matter what you are: gay, straight, bi, single, married, mother, wife, daughter- there's something here for you. And while you may not be able to relate to each and every monologue, you'll likely be able to appreciate them all.

There are wonderful moments when the entire cast is on stage with lines bouncing back and forth across the stage like a super ball (remember those?). I especially liked the shared scene about menstruation. This scene is a perfect example of the complexity and variety inherent in the show. While every woman's had a period and remembers her first one, there's a striking array of how each woman's character dealt with the experience as well as the rendetion of how the character's family handled her emergening womanhood.

My personal stand out favorites in the production included "My Angry Vagina", particularly the part about the cold duck-lips at the gynecologist's office- what woman hasn't experienced that? And of course, Julie from winemedineme gave a stand out, spot on performance in her scenes. I have to admit that my favorite was the actress that did "Coochie Snorcher" and several other scenes. She simply and completely owned the stage in each scene in which she was featured.

There's laugh out loud scenes as well as scenes of heart-rending sadness. From monologues about rape survivors in Bosnia and the plight of Native American women, to The Flood, the gentle humor of Because He Liked To Look At It and answers to what a vagina would say and wear, this show is one to take your mom, daughter or best girlfriend to...or better yet, take all three to this finely crafted production. Remaining shows are Friday and Saturday, June 19 and 20. Reservations are advised; this theater is small.

And for anyone who cares, in each of the productions I was in, I did the monologue about a woman who had a good experience with a man.

Cincy Fringe

One Cincy Fringe show down, how many more, remains to be seen. That said, I clear my calendar for Fringe, one of two festivals I volunteer for (the other being Mid-Point Music Fest). For those of you still making picks, If Only This Date... has been dropped from the calendar and won't be performed. That was one of the shows 5chw4r7z and I were looking forward to. Tonight's pick, Kevin Thornton's one-man show Sex, Dreams and Self Control is a definite must-see. This autobiographical tale of growing up gay in Indiana, told through monologues and songs is funny and chock-full of '80's pop culture references. It's also one of the longer plays I've seen at Fringe, clocking in at 90 minutes. One suggestion if you go: take a sweater. I don't know the last time I was soooo cold. You can find out more about Kevin at www.sexdreamsandselfcontrol.com

#16

Happy Anniversary!



Here's to you my little love,
With blessings from above,
Now let the day begin,
Let the day begin,
Let the day start

Let the Day Begin, The Call

Little Ones

Friend from work tells me she had a dream about me where she comes to my office to talk, but I tell her I'm busy and being really snippy and short with her, telling her to go away. She looks around, sees I'm not writing and not on the computer. And in her dream, she's wondering why I'm being so short with her when she sees something black race from under my desk to under the other desk. That's when she realizes what's going on- she dreamt I was trying to hide three little cats in my office! She said one was white, one black and one calico.

The night she dreamt that may have been the night I saw my sister-in-laws new kittens. Three black and two black and white. I played with all of them- they were all adorable and way too little to leave their mother.

Let's hear it for the boys

Cold, cloudy with copious amounts of...drizzle for Reds Opening Day 2009. But the weather couldn't dampen the enthusiasm of those who braved the weather to help usher the team into the regular season. I used to follow the Indians opening day, but they have nothing on Cincinnati And even though they lost, there's still one hundred and sixty some games left.

My girlfriends and I started the day with muffins & merlot. It was supposed to be kegs & eggs, but alas, no breakfast this year at Game Day. Debbie paid homage to the free hot sauce they were handing out with this little display.

And no opening day would be complete without a picture with Frank Marzullo from Fox 19.

Speaking of Fox 19, I'd like to personally thank them for finally being the media outlet to allot some time to focus on the Cyclones. Cincinnati has a winning, professional team that, even with heading to the playoffs for the second year in a row, are virtually ignored by the media in town. And to get only two paragraphs in Thursday's newspaper is criminal. If you missed the final two regular season games, get down to a playoff game. 5chw4r7z and I excitedly watched them win in overtime last Friday and all I can say is these guys are the real deal!

Mom---Moooooommm

Here we go again with a casino initiative. It's not really the casino idea itself that's bothering me, it's the fact that we defeated it only four months ago. After months and months of endless political advertising from both sides. I'd love some sort of legislation that forces any initiative that fails to skip at least one election before trying again. Makes me think of the little kids who keep repeating the same request over and over until they wear mom down and she finally says yes. Please mom, please, please, please can I have a casino? I'm just gonna keep saying no.

Holiday

A little bit of fun for International Women's Day

Comics and Editorial Cartoons: Non Sequitur on Yahoo! News

Old Memories

Joe Wessels column in this week's CityBeat is a loving tribute to Cincinnati icon Uncle Al. While I didn't grow up in Cincinnati and watch Uncle Al, I saw several parallels to my own life. Where you had Uncle Al, in Cleveland we had Barnaby on WUAB 43. It's been so long I can't remember much specifically about him but I do remember him as kindly, older guy, not unlike Captain Kangaroo. I tried searching for info but couldn't find anything which makes me wonder if anyone else remembers him at all.
Like Joe, I'd always look for the WJW studios right along the Shoreway. He looked for Uncle Al down here, while I looked for the weatherman, Dick Goddard. This guy was my hero when I was a kid- I was fascinated by the weather. I wanted to do that when I grew up & my grandma bought me his books, which were crammed with information about all kinds of weather. He's been on the air so long, I thought he must have retired by now, but he was still going at it when I was up north at Christmas. The guy is a weather diety.
We also had the tv that turned with a dial and took five minutes to warm up. Not only that, but after years of use, the dial wore out and you had to turn it with a pair of pliers. I also remember my dad going down to the drugstore to test and buy tubes for the thing. Christmas gift to the family at 15- after the original moved up to Maine and back- a new tv.

Downtown Life

Coming home from the gym today, I noticed bunches of flowers outside Jean-Robert at Pigall's, presumably left by those in mourning over the demise of our city's only 4-star restaurant.



Meanwhile, there's a real life CSI going on up on 9th between Elm & Race. Bet you won't see as many bouquets on the street from people mourning that victim. I'll also wager you don't get to discuss such exciting topics at your gym in the suburbs.

Happy Valentine's Day

25 Things

5chw4r7z tagged me for "25 things about me" So here goes:

1.I was born in and spent the first 10 years of my life in Cleveland.
2. My family also lived for a short time in Maine-
3. then moved back into the house we'd moved out of just months before.
4. When I was a kid, I wanted to grow up to be a meteorologist
Or a vet
5. I love Spanish music and Indian food
6. Cats have always been my favorite animal
7. One of my all-time favorite songs is "Sing" by Travis
8. I cannot draw to save my life so I did not inherit that parental talent,
9. but my great-grandmother was going to be an opera singer but gave up that dream to get married and have 11 kids (in other words, I can sing)
10. Dream role: Fantine in Les Mis
11. I was 6 months away from moving back to Maine when I met 5chw4r7z
12.I didn't break a bone until I was 21
13. And I got chicken pox at the same time
14. I like to cook & try new recipes
15. Red wine & dark chocolate are one of my favorite combos
16. My mom said once I started walking, I didn't go back to crawling, I just took off
17. I consider garlic to be a food group
18.I cried tears of joy when I found out we were moving out of Youngstown
19. My parents sent me to Presbyterian pre school
20. and Jewish summer day camp
23. but we're all Catholic
24. Two of my favorite movies are "Sid & Nancy" and "Life is Beautiful"
25. I want to go to Italy and Ireland
And finally, it occurred to me the other night while watching 'Planet Earth' that if I couldn't be a human, being a dolphin might be a lot of fun.

What would you be, if you had the option to be another species???

The Best Christmas Present

Christmas 2008
Originally uploaded by cincinnatista

...that I didn't actually get. Mike & Elicia let a cat adopt them a while ago, not knowing it was pregnant. This is one of the kittens and in an attempt to not get attached, they hadn't given him a name. 5chw4r7z decided to call him "Erin Marie's future kitten". He was so relaxed here, purring loudly and I was in love. I let my better judgement take over- I knew if we brought this little guy home, he'd be into everything we'll be packing up over the next few weeks.