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