contributing editors Mike Breen, Music; Dale Doerman, Onstage; Billie Jeyes, Literary; Rick Pender, Onstage; Steve Ramos, Film; Fran Watson, Art.
contributing writers Anne Arenstein, Karen Amelia Arnett, Lisa Baggerman, Brian Baker, Polly Campbell, Elizabeth Carey, Jane Durrell, Jeff Hillard, Jon Hughes, John James, Josh Katz, Jonathan Kamholtz, Michelle Kennedy, Kim Krause, Craig Lovelace, David Pescovitz, Jeremy Schlosberg, Peggy Schmidt, Kathy Y. Wilson, John 0. Young.
photo editor Jymi Bolden
photographers Jon Hughes, Staff; Bonnie Greer, Sean Hughes, Doug Motto, Marty Sosnowski.
listings editor Billie Jeyes
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art director Paul Neff
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published by Lightborne Publishing Inc. Thomas R. Schiff, ChiefExecutive Officer
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PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER WITH SOY-BASED INKS
ON THE COVER: Cincinnati Rope Twisters (from left) Tedra Worsham, Ebony Cooley and Devon Williams work the ropes.
News&l/feivs
Letters 4
Burning Questions Don’t council members want to wait until all the evidence is in before making up their minds about whether police used excessive force when arresting a youth? Is taxpayer funding of public broadcasting necessary when pledges are way up? 5
On The Beat Despite issues being raised, problems within the Cincinnati Police Division worsen 7
DailySred
Personal Style The ins and ouch of a tattoo show 12
Technology The World Wide Web is becoming a window into 3-D virtual reality worlds 12
IMerKiosk
Index to calendar listings 15
Music After writing 700 songs, Jack Logan becomes “overnight” sensation and critics’ darling 17
Music “Spill It” offers a plethora of showcases for local musicians 18
Film Funny girl Meg Ryan, starring in French Kiss, perfects her childlike schtick 21
Art Toni Birckhead is closing her Fourth Street gallery but will keep her options open 23
Onstage Figure skating gains popularity with American audiences for a variety of reasons 25
Classified Ads Help wanted, for sale, for rent, music, services 31
Back Beat Answer CityBeat’s question of the week 32
Take Me to the River: Wyoming High School students test the water in a stretch of Mill Creek as part of a 12-school program that allows Hamilton County youths an up-close opportunity to study water pollution. Test results will be presented at a countywide “student congress” later this month. News & Views, 5.
Landing on
Their Feet: Girls ages 5-15 learn the intricate sport of Double Dutch rope jumping at the West End YMCA. They’re also learning how to win in local and state competitions. Discover the long history and hard work involved in this seemingly effortless playground game. Cover Story, 8.
Photo by Jymi Bolden Design by Paul Neff
The Straight Dope
BY CECIL ADAMS
cuse me, but... how do they grow more seedless fruit?just askin’. Salt Lake City, Utah
Guess you can’t just plant more seeds, huh? But the fact is, you probably wouldn’t want to plant seeds even if you could. Sexual reproduction, which is by and large what you’re talking about when you grow things from seeds, is too chancy. Many of us have had occasion to think this, but few are more acutely aware of it than commercial fruit growers. An important function of sex, after all, is to shake up the gene pool. While that lends a certain charming variety to the offspring of us humans, it’s not something you want to encourage in, say, a Thompson seedless grape.
Luckily, sex is only one method of propagating a species. There’s also asexual reproduction, such as that engaged in by our parents. By means of cuttings, grafting or what have you, it’s possible to make multiple copies of the parent plant. What’s more, the offspring plants have the advantage, from a horticultural standpoint, of being perfect genetic duplicates or clones of the parent plant. So once you’ve bred the ultimate begonia, you can crank out exact copies unto the 100th generation. And people do just that. Some grape “cultivars,” as humanbred (and often human-dependent) varieties are called, date from Roman, times that is, the plants we have today are exact genetic copies of ones first grown 2,000 years ago.
What I’m telling you is that seedlessness is no big obstacle, plant reproductionwise. Most grape varieties, seedless or not, are reproduced by grafting. Ditto for citrus and fruit trees in general. (Actually I believe they “bud” fruit trees, but let’s not trouble ourselves with details.)
So, you think you understand? Time to obfuscate the situation. It is possible to buy seeds that, when planted, produce seedless watermelons. Whence cometh this seed? It’s the product of an unnatural union between different varieties of watermelon, resulting in a hybrid that, like many hybrids, is sterile. You plant the hybrid seeds, and you get a plant whose fruit matures but whose seeds are underdeveloped. To make more seed, you have to keep mating the mommy and daddy plants. There is vast-
ly more to it than that, but that’s about all I can explain without charging you quarterly tuition. Pass me a grape.
What’s up with Zovirax?
After a passionate lovemaking session with a girlfriend of mine (I’m bi), she asked ifI knew what Zovirax
was. When I said “Huh?" she showed me a swinger’s magazine with thefollowing ad: “Attractive m/w/c, late 20s, seeks other very attractive, new to swinging couples/femalesfamiliar with Zoviraxfor special times, once everyone is comfortable. Only sincere people who use Zovirax or know what it isfor (don’t get scared, get informed) need reply with photos showingface and SASE. ProofofAIDS test required [etc], What is this Zovirax they are talking about? A drug? A sex toy? A man thing or a woman thing? Hetero or homosexual exclusive? Does it need batteries? C.E., College Park, Md.
This one threw me for a sec, too. Zovirax is the trade name for the drug acyclovir, the only effective treatment for genital herpes. It comes in both oral and ointment forms. When I first read “swinging couples/females
Proud of Policy
We would like to express our disgust at the glaring misrepresentation of our sentiments concerning Antioch College’s sexual offense policy in the April 13-19 issue cover story, “Hands-On: Antioch’s ‘Intrusive’ Sexual Offense Policy.”
Writer Steve Ramos could hardly have written a more sensationalized depiction of the policy and the programs designed to uphold it programs which, on the whole, receive overwhelming support from students here at Antioch. Ramos neglected to cover this side of the story, instead opting for only the most divisive of student’s comments and placing them well out of context.
There are certainly flaws in the institutional design of the programs. But these by no means outweigh their value and urgent necessity. Sexual violence is an issue which affects all Americans. Statisticians tell us that one of every three American women will be the victim of an incident of sexual assault in their lifetimes. Victim’s advocates place that figure closer to two-thirds. Incidents of date rape are epidemic on college campuses. Contrary to so much of the media hysteria which surrounded its implementstion, the policy is, in practice, simple and unobtrusive.
Tarred, distorted and held aloft by right-wing pundits and the mainstream national press alike as a regulatory excess exemplary of a new “political correctness,” the policy has been wrongly cast as a sex-negative infringement on students’ private lives. In reality, the policy is
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THIS MODAKII W«KL» by
OVER THE PAST F£W TEARS. AN UGLY SIDE OF AMERICA HAS GROWN INCREASINGLY VOCAL... THinlY-VEiled hatred and Bice HAVE COME
1b dominate much of the NATIONAL disCOURSE... SELF-STYLED PATRIOTS have: WRAPPED THEMSELVES IN THE FLAG WHILE BELITTLING THE VERY VIRTUES OF CO/APASSION AND TOLERANCE FOR WHICH THAT FLAG STANDS... AND NOW IT APPEARS THAT A FEW SICK AND TWISTED INDIVIDUALS HAVE TAKEN It ALL MUCH TOO FAR...
one of common-sense pragmatism and real world compassion. It was created and is upheld by the students themselves. Above all, it provides the student body with an institutional means of mediating disputes and, in extreme cases, of legal recourse.
The sexual offense policy stands as a shining example of Antioch College’s awareness of, and commitment to, issues of social justice. We, as students, are proud to be associated with this policy, and with the institution which fostered it.
Mathew Arnold, Antoinete DeLeo Yellow Springs, Ohio
Picking a Bone
I enjoyed (if that can be the proper word) Nancy Firor’s article “Wary on Walnut” in the April 27-May 3 issue of CityBeat. I admit I was against the Arts Center project from the beginning and, therefore, already had a bone to pick with its advocates, including Downtown Cincinnati Inc. (DCI), which seems to be totally clueless. They seem to believe that by effectively segregating the “entertainment district” into a preconceived area it will eticourage the creation of a revitalized downtown. I think they are nuts. It’s fairly obvious they want to drive out most of the few remaining businesses which have managed to survive the construction because they don’t fit into their concept of “upscale” galleries, boutiques and restaurants.
I was saddened by your recent article about Queen City Books closing. I remember talking with Bob (Raterman, owner) when construction started on the
TOM TOMORROW
THE FIRST SUSPECT ARRESTED WAS REPORTEDLY A MEMBER OF A “CITIZEN'S MlUTlA’...OFTEN LINKED TO WHITE SUPREMACIST ORGANIZATIONS, THESE: PARAMILITARY GROUPS HAVE BEGUN TO POP UP IN BACKWOODS SETTINGS ACROSS THE. COUNTRY-STOCKPILING WEAPONS AND EX" CHANGING BIZARRE, PARANOID FANTASIES ABOUT ZIONIST CONSPIRACIES AND SECRET WORLD GOVERNMENTS...
if this bombing WAS the work of these angriest of angry white men, then we HAVE CROSSED AN AWFUL THRESHOLD-ONLY TIME WILL TELL WHAT THE 0OM8ER5 HOPED To accomplish by murdering scores of INNOCENT AMERICANS IN COLD BLOOD- INCLuDING AT LEAST 17 SMALL CHILDREN IN A DAY CAGE CENTER
Arts Center, and see the writing on then. Small businesses not have the luxury given tax abatements subsidies when business off. And this city possibly care less. Goetta Dictionary I would like to enjoyed the article Campbell, “Whole Goetta Goin’ On,” March 9-15 issue.
eating goetta. I can ber my mother grinding own meat with a grinder to make us favorite breakfast In the article you nounced it “gedda.” have to disagree say it is pronounced “gudda.” I would know how you came your pronunciation, mine comes from and many years of our family recipe.
Gregory Editor
MIMING MISHINS
BY ELIZABETH CAREY
Racism, Excessive Force or Self-Protection?
African-American leaders, including the NAACP's local president, have lambasted the Cincinnati Police Division for what they call a racially motivated use of excessive force during the April 25 arrest of Pharon Crosby.
During a rally April 29 at the Bethel Baptist Church, Cincinnati City Councilmen Dwight Tillery and Tyrone Yates came to the support of those protesting. There was no need, they said, to wait for the results of an investigation into the incident before rendering an opinion that the officers’ actions were out of line. Both said they had seen all they needed to see on a videotape of part of the incident captured by WLWT-TV.
The tape showed Crosby, who is black, being hit and kicked by police officers. One of the officers, Steve Pickens, who is white, has been reassigned to administrative duty pending the outcome of the investigation.
On May 1, however, viewers got a more in-depth look at that tape when the station played it back in slow motion. As police arrived to assist officer Eric Hall, who was on the ground struggling with Crosby, the slow-motion tape showed what appeared to be Crosby’s hand trying to grab Hall’s weapon a can of Mace out of the officer's hand. It also showed Crosby putting his hands at his sides when told to put them behind his back before he and the officer tumbled to the ground.
According to the WLWT report, Hall is of Japanese and Native American descent though officer Brian Strieker, acting public information officer for the division, said he thought Hall was Hawaiian.
The tape also showed that Crosby was sprayed with Mace by a black officer during the incident.
Are any of these facts enough to make Tillery or Yates reconsider and await all of the evidence before making up their minds?
Tillery did not return three telephone messages seeking his answer to the question.
Citing examples that included Crosby being sprayed with Mace after he was restrained and then carried to a patrol car in a prone position, Yates said the use of excessive force was clear. But, he said, he had not contended that the use of excessive force was racially motivated.
“Many commentators have projected their own thoughts about race onto my thoughts,” he said.
Barney Pulls His Weight
As part of their Contract With America, Republican congressmen called for a decrease in federal funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). CPB partially funds the Public Broadcast System (PBS).
As the threat of CPB’s demise grew, so did public donations. Sherri Mancini, membership manager for publie radio station WGUC-FM, said that during the past year the number and amount of pledges to the station had increased. WNKU-FM just finished its spring fund drive with pledges running 30 percent over goal. WCET-TV officials said the station also experienced pledge increases. Soon, public broadcasting's logo will begin to appear on toys, such as Barney dolls, that represent shows appearing on PBS. Proceeds from the sale of these toys will be invested into children’s and other educational programming.
Given the money-making developments, is it still necessary that taxpayers support the CPB and PBS?
Of course, Meyer said.
“All (licensing) revenues combined would equal about 10 to 15 percent of all federal money,” he said. “(Federal) money is very critical. The other sources are not enough to replace federal money.”
BURNING QUESTIONS is weekly attempt to afflict the comfortable.
News&Views
An Alternative Look at How and Why It Happened
Student Scientists Analyze Mill Creek
Participantsfrom schools in the creek's watershed to discuss test results at 1student congress'
On a warm March morning, Joe Westerhaus and Titus Fulton trudge through the West Fork of Mill Creek in Springfield Township. Reaching a spot where the stream begins to bend, the two Wyoming High School students get to work.
They put on protective gloves and start taking water samples from what has been described as one of the filthiest streams in the United States.
Their mission? To measure the water’s acidity and alkalinity. Too much of either, the students explain, is harmful to the overall health of the creek and life forms within it.
It is the third time this school year the two and about 15 of their classmates have participated in these experiments. The scene, however, has been repeated by peers from 12 other junior high and high schools whose boundaries fall within the creek’s watershed.
The young scientists are part of an ambitious 20-year project aimed at linking educational institutions and communities to help restore often-maligned Mill Creek. On May 25, about 500 of those junior and senior high school students will meet to discuss their findings and make recommendations on how to improve stream quality during a “Student Congress” at Cincinnati’s Albert B. Sabin Convention Center.
Included as part of the students’ regular curriculum, the Mill Creek testing is viewed by teachers and adult volunteers as an essential step in reclaiming the waterway. For the students, the course has been an eye-opener.
“It’s made me realize just how much we really pollute our water and
Students Robin Strangfeld and Michelle oxygen levels in water samples from
MILL CREEK: FROM PAGE 5
developed in Ann Arbor, Mich., specifically for school programs. It is used nationally and internationally, ensuring testing methods by Cincinnati-area students are identical to those employed by students using the model in other cities.
Pollution accumulates
Mill Creek is a long stream, 28 miles from beginning to end, and stretches from the southernmost townships of Butler County to the Ohio River. Its southward flow parallels Interstate 75 as it winds through the center of Hamilton County.
Almost every type of pollutant has found its way into the stream and its tributaries: toxic industrial waste, untreated sewage, blood from slaughtered animals and waste from breweries. Concerns about pollution in Mill Creek have been raised for more than 100 years, while it has become what might be the most polluted water source in Ohio.
In his book, The Mill Creek: An Unnatural History of an Urban Stream, author Stanley Hedeen chronicles the stream’s demise from its pristine state in the 1700s to its present filth-laden condition. In the early part of this century, city business leaders conceded Mill Creek was nothing more than a “martyr” for a rapidly growing Cincinnati, he writes.
Rivers Unlimited was the result of a lawsuit filed three years ago against General Electric Aircraft Engines. The lawsuit, brought by the Ohio Public Interest Research Group, alleged the huge defense contractor exceeded guidelines set by the federal government regulating the amount of waste water that could be discharged into Mill Creek.
While GE denied any wrongdoing, it settled the suit for $775,000 with almost 46 percent ($360,000) going to create Rivers Unlimited to run the school program. And instead of distancing itself, GE became a
partner in the program. A handful of its employees now volunteer their time to provide technical assistance to students and teachers in the field and classroom.
The extent of GE’s participation ranges from advising the schools about safety procedures to helping them conduct their laboratory tests. Denise Anderson, who oversees the project at Withrow High School, says involvement by GE employees has been a blessing.
“Most of them (students) had a good idea of what people do in their everyday lives,” she says. “With the volunteers, they get a more businesslike outlook to it.”
Keith Harshman, General Electric’s manager of environment, health and safety, has had a change in perception about the program since the beginning of the year.
“Going into this, I thought it was going to be a fun experience for students who had some interest in this kind of stuff and who thought this was part of (their) schooling,” says Harshman, who volunteers at Princeton High School. “What we found is there are a lot of kids who take this seriously.”
Mill Creek neighbors and environmentalists also take seriously several recent developments that indicate conditions along the creek might be improving. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is expected to move ahead
BORDERS
IAm Becomingthe Woman I’ve Wanted Wed., May 10 at 7:30 pm
IAm Becoming the Woman I’ve Wanted is the recent winner of an American Book Award. Sandra is also the editor of When lam an Old WomanIShall WearPurple and IfIHad My Life to Live Over I Would Pick More Daisies. She will be here signing books and discussing women’s relationships to their physical selves. Poetry Extravaganza
Mon., May 15 at 7pm
ThismonthinsteadofhavingtheusualOpenMicPoetry Nights, we are goingto packall the month’s funinto one night.There willbe several featuredreaders, live music and abriefopen micreading.Signupfortheopenmicwill still be one halfhour before the event starts.
with a $2.2 million study reevaluating channel improvements it has made along the creek. The study would consider everything from a greenway/recreation plan to alternate flood-control methods.
There also have been discussions within the Mill Creek Watershed Steering Committee about forming a coalition of businesses to question what, if anything, companies might do to improve stream quality. The steering committee is composed of 34 political jurisdictions in the watershed.
Bridge over troubled water
It is 9:30 a.m. on this early spring day as the yellow school bus pulls gingerly across the covered bridge on Covered Bridge Road in Springfield Township.
After stopping, Bill Sell’s Wyoming High School students spill from the bus carrying what appear to be tackle boxes. But inside the boxes are neither fishing lures nor bait, but vials and other materials students will use to test water quality.
“Goggles are not necessary,” Sell says. “Gloves are.”
The amount of protective gear students wear depends on what part of the stream they’re monitoring. This portion of the west fork is cleaner than sections farther south, closer to Cincinnati. There, students might have to wear goggles to shield their eyes from waterborne chemicals and other pollutants.
In some cases, especially near downtown, the stream is so filthy that students are not allowed to enter it. To CONTINUES ON PAGE 7
Joe Westerhaus, left, and Titus Fulton check the creek’s pH balance.
Cop Talk
BY MICHELLE KENNEDY
Endings and Beginnings
For the past year, a small group of officer spouses has tried to get the Cincinnati Police Administration and City Council to confront some of the problems within the Police Division. We also have tried to open the eyes of the citizens of Cincinnati to what’s really going on inside our city’s police force. The administration, it seems, is more interested in hiding the problems, while council members have their own political agendas. And citizens don’t fully understand the magnitude of how these problems affect them.
I approached CityBeat to start this column in the hope of gaining a wider audience for these issues. But now it’s time for my part in this effort to end. My most compelling reason for parting ways with this column is because I’m causing more harm than good to the very people set out to help. Every point I’ve raised in this space has been one-upped. Instead of dealing with the concerns, police administrators have pointed fingers, told half-truths and retaliated. addressed the issue of traffic and parking ticket quotas for Cincinnati police officers. The Police Division used to deny it even had quotas; officials now admit to having quotas but tell citizens it’s for their own protection. The minimums have been raised, and every officer must now write even more tickets. I questioned the Police Division’s applicant screening and hiring practices. Officials responded in typical fashion. Now Field Training Officers are responsible for making sure their recruits succeed. The division didn’t deal with the issue of hiring unqualified applicants; it simply found someone else to blame if an inept officer gets into trouble down the road.
I’m still waiting for the fallout on rotating shifts, the policy that dictates officers change work hours every eight weeks. Every officer out there, probably even Police Chief Michael Snowden, will tell you that the current shift structure (50 percent rotating/50 percent fixed) isn’t working, especially since the new retirement system took effect in January. expect the administration to twist this story or shift the blame and, in the end, harass its officers.
Every small internal problem in the Cincinnati Police Division has a way of rippling out into a huge ring that encompasses the entire city. When districts are undermanned, for example, it’s the officers on duty who must do the added work and deal with the added stress. Why should that matter to you? Because you might be the person who waits an hour or two for an officer to respond to your call. And when the police arrive, the officer probably won’t have the patience to properly consider your situation because he/she hasn’t stopped running, literally, all shift. And this is just one example of how these problems affect the public.
One thing any person who has read this column must know is that my opinions have been my own not CityBeat's, not Spouses for Officer Safety’s and not my husband’s, as many in the Police Division seem to think. As I’ve watched my family and friends being torn by these issues, can't help but wonder how might have contributed. All have left to do now is pray.
MICHELLE KENNEDY, married to a Cincinnati Police Officer, is a founder of Spouses for Officer Safety. This column runs monthly, though it did not appear in April due to an illness in Kennedy’s family. CityBeat thanks Kennedy for her contributions and will continue "On the Beat" with another writer.
MILL CREEK: FROM PAGE 6
monitor those areas, they had to gather samples by lowering test vials into the water from bridges.
There is no such worry for Sell’s class as they descend stream banks into the west fork. Soon they split into teams, each with its specific task. Some are measuring nitrate levels, others are determining how much dissolved oxygen there may be. A few are scanning the stream’s floor looking for macro invertebrates, organisms that will provide clues to the creek’s condition.
“I’ve always thought the stream was dirtier,” says Erin Omar, a Wyoming junior, plopping what looks like an antacid tablet into a vial to determine nitrate levels.
Sell watches students spread out along the creek. The program, he says, gets them to think and act like adults.
“It forces them to ask themselves, ‘Are we part of the environment and have some responsibility, or are we apart from it and can do as we please?’ Sell says. “This (program) is about trust and teamwork. I do not look at it as a student/teacher arrangement. Here we look at it as a people situation.”
Today, it’s determined this part of the stream is clean. The class has found stonefly, caddis fly and water-penny beetle larvae three types of pollution-intolerant macro invertebrates that signify good water quality.
Tomorrow isn’t
For all its positive influences, school project might come funding is found. Money enough to cover costs for ning out.
Because the field trips are in-depth and outdoors, there isn’t much oversight needed. Students work independently to a large degree as they carry out their tests. Corathers and instructors say it helps instill personal responsibility and an appreciation for team work. These life-building skills, as Corathers puts it, will remain with them long after high school. And there are signs the program already might Sell says grades for after the field trips began. ly to the testing program those students are making book instruction and visual
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STORY BY KATHY VALIN
This is a story about a living folk tradition, almost certainly thousands of years old but still current. Something kids, communicating and interacting freely in play, pass along to each other in countries separated by oceans and languages.
To get a taste of it, all you have to do is watch young children playing together without adult supervision in yards, streets or on playgrounds.
Cinderella Dressed in Yellow Went Upstairs to See a Fellow Made a Mistake Kissed a Snake How many doctors Did it take?
Jump-rope lyrics such as this ribald one range the classic childhood spectrum from catastrophe to hilarity, from childish romanticism to childish cynicism. Like the Brothers Grimm fairy tales, children’s voices trace the need to act out something they want to be or want to happen. Maybe there’s even a charm in the jingle that will make it happen.
Jumping rope to rhymes is a folk tradition with no written history. Yet, because folk traditions are passed along from generation to generation and change very slowly, experts are convinced they survive nearly intact in contemporary forms. Granted, we don’t often break into Morris dances today. Yet, as sure as an e.e. cummings poem, every spring in Cincinnati kids come outdoors to practice a traditional sport that’s every bit as old as Morris dancing skipping rope.
The champs
Today’s jump rope might be as simple as jumping to a rhythmic chant set against the beat of a worn clothesline hitting a concrete
sidewalk. Or it may be as complex as the gymnastics performed in the sport of Double Dutch. In all cases, rhythm is the root of it, says Topaz, artistic director of Cincinnati-based UMOjA Dance Company. Turners must keep the precisely proper rhythm or the jumper will be stranded.
Topaz, who grew up in Mount Auburn and Corryville,
Second-grader Brandi Scott
still remembers her dad teaching her to turn rope and her insistence that he turn for her after coming home from work in the evenings. Today, some of her company’s dances draw on discovered connections between authentic West African dance and such childhood experiences.
To truly appreciate just how complex these rhythmic interactions can be, consider Double Dutch, which requires two rope turners to twist two 12- or 14-foot ropes egg-beater fashion, while one or two jumpers skip (and often perform athletic stunts) within the moving ropes. At the competitive level, the sport of Double Dutch takes tremendous skill and determination. The top teams must display rock-solid confidence.
Later this month, Cincinnati’s own West End YMCA Rope Twisters, Double Dutch city champs for the last two years, will compete in Columbus for the state Double Dutch title a neat little feat they achieved last year. To get a closer look at the art of jumping, we visited the Rope Twisters 15 lively, focused, hardworking girls ranging in age from 5 to 15 and their vivacious coach, Denise Bobo, at their home base at the Y on Ezzard Charles Drive.
It’s a spring afternoon at the YMCA. Moms push kids in strollers. Neighbors talk on the corners. Through the glass doors of the Y is a comfortable reception area. You hear the hum of voices, the short bark of shoes on a wood gym floor, the occasional shriek, shout or giggle. Several adults are supervising, including Joseph Calloway, the Y’s executive director who frequently helps during practice. The kids are in groups, some turning, some jumping. An assortment of smaller children watch, bounce balls or try out other stunts.
“We practice two and a half to four hours a day, Monday through Friday, when we have an event like the state tournament coming up,” says Bobo, who took her team to Maryland for the world championships last year. She hopes this year the Rope Twisters will make the state finals and move on to be a top contender at the world finals, to be held this summer in Charleston, S.C.
“They’ve come a long way,” says Calloway, who specialized in gymnastics and tumbling as a student (and, oh yes, was a jump-rope city champ in his younger days).
“When they first went to world championships, the girls were awed by the size of the gymnasium at Columbia University in New York,” where the event was held. When they performed their freestyle routine, he says, they were nervous. The rules did not allow a coach on the floor with the team. However, the girls’ confidence and esteem went way up the next year in Maryland.
“They were ready,” Calloway says. “They practiced on the concrete in the hotel parking lot. They had everything down. Everything was in sync.”
Attitude vs. athleticism
During the summer anybody can join the Rope Twisters at the West End YMCA. Most newcomers are enthusiastic kids from the neighborhood.
“Last year we had 40,” Bobo says. “And 20 wanted to be on the team, along with the 12 girls I usually have. So, at this point, they competed with each other.”
Interestingly, the internal competition was not decided purely on an athletic basis.
“I might just need one girl, so I choose the one who has the most potential and the best attitude,” the coach says. “I can get athletic girls with a bad attitude, but a non-athletic girl with a real good attitude is the one I’ll pick. I’ll go for the attitude because you can teach a girl to do all the moves. It takes a little time and practice. If you get someone with a good attitude, they’ll be willing to put forth the time and effort.”
Watching the group, the importance
Coach Denise Reynolds Bobo watches Latasha Cook do her kicks as Dawana Stephens, left, and Natasha Reynolds turn. Watching are Tenia Long and Brittany Griffith.
of attitude becomes clear.
“Go ahead, let’s go now,” Bobo says in a friendly yet stern voice. There’s a flurry of activity as the girls confer among themselves. Suddenly, order comes out of chaos, and a triangular formation is headed by one of the smallest girls, who confidently starts the rest up with the call “Are you ready?” They respond, “Yes we are!”
So begins an intricate clapping game, with stamping and clapping moving to the time of the chants, a demonstration of unity and group control. But it’s simply a warm-up for the more complicated jumping to come.
Patty cake, pop up, crab, Virginia reel, can-can, snapper, scissors, stag jump, Boston crab, mountain climb, mule kick,
split, wheelbarrow, piggyback, cartwheel, round off, peg-leg jump they are all stunts performed by the jumpers, who hang and snake and twirl and twist between the now slow, now fast, now broad, now compact ellipses formed by the swinging ropes.
The Rope Twisters currently are comprised of three teams: the eighth-grade High Steppers, the seventh-grade New Attitude and the sixth-grade Steppin’ Up. Smaller girls are nicknamed “Smurfettes.” Single teams use two turners and one jumper. Doubles involve two turners and two jumpers.
In competition each team presents a compulsory jump sequence of about 40 seconds, to which team members sing a chant. Next is a speed test. For two minutes, a single competitor collaborates with her turners. As the ropes whirl, she will signal them with her hand as to how fast she can skip. A judge counts only the left foot, and the count might go as high as 300 during serious competition. The turners periodically encourage their jumper: “Come on, you can do it. Almost done. Pick your feet up.” Then comes a freestyle routine, which displays elaborate turning (turners can exchange ropes with jumpers much like a relay race), acrobatics performed without interrupting the jump rhythm, a dance sequence (often done by jumpers and turners together) and a final pose to finish off. These routines take the most
Jumping Back in Time
Francelia Butler, a former University of Connecticut professor who has studied jumprope rhymes for 53 years, judges that nobody really knows how long people have been jumping rope. She has discovered jingles that date to the 16th century, and many even today are familiar to children in countries separated by oceans and language.
According to the American Double Dutch League, the sport of Double Dutch is thought to have originated with ancient Phoenician, Egyptian and Chinese rope makers who practiced their craft in so-called “rope walks” built inside 900-footlong workhouses near seaports. Workers with a bunch of hemp around their waists and two strands of fiber attached to a wheel walked backward and literally twisted the rope into uniformity. Runners traveled through the cluttered floor supplying the spinners and often had to jump the ropes to make their deliveries.
The game evolved during leisure time for centuries. Dutch settlers brought it to the American trading town of New Amsterdam, and English settlers dubbed the game and all things Dutch as confusing, or “double Dutch.”
Rope jumping grew over the years, nurtured in cities as a game for girls. It flourished after World War II, especially in New York City. Changing lifestyles in the 1950s the radio boom, increasing crime on city streets almost extinguished Double Dutch. The game owes its current revival to the efforts in 1973 of several New York City police officers and physical education teachers, who designed the present-day sport of Double Dutch.
(From left) Seventhgraders Kayla Reynolds, Angela Carlos and Ebony Lee
800 #’S per Month l usage)
I Y'Ler For YouU
left) Sixth-graders
practice and usually are revised right up to the date of competition.
The current Rope Twisters’ competition roster includes Angela Carlos, Latasha Cook, Ebony Cooley, Rion Gault, Brittany Griffith, Ebony Lee, Tenia Long, Kayla Reynolds, Natasha Reynolds, Alycia Scott, Brandi Scott, Dawana Stephens, Chereece Warner, Devon Williams and Tedra Worsham. Besides Calloway, Bobo’s assistants are Joenetta Scott, Sandy Scott and Sheila Worsham.
We ask Bobo if the girls ever disagree. “Yeah, sometimes they argue,” she says.
The Smallest Skippers
Kids have an obvious ability to move and dance. They easily sing and pantomime and quickly learn chants and rhymes from older children. American street rhymes have existed for generations, along with special activities like hand-clapping, ballbouncing or jump rope.
In Let’s Slice the Ice: A Collection of Black Children’s Ring Games and Chants, authors Eleanor Fulton and Pat Smith write that ring chants probably emerged from African-American children (mostly girls) and reflected the importance of the South’s easy, undisturbed pace in their social development. An order of leadership would be chosen. During their turn, within the rules, children did their own thing, rhyming and chanting with swing. Anybody who could shake it, rhyme their words and keep up with the tempo was included.
Jump-rope skills are even used in the curriculum at a city magnet school. Kindergartners at Schiel Primary School for Arts Enrichment learn single jump rope as a class activity. Teacher Patricia Sears sometimes pairs older kids with younger ones to hone partnering skills.
At the beginning of a school year a few kids can jump. By the end of first grade, each student is able to jump a single rope at least five times without
“We had a real big argument yesterday. What I do is try and let them express themselves, let them talk and get rid of the anger by discussing how they feel, how they see things. So, just look, they came back today and now they’re buddybuddy again.”
missing. They also learn other skills, including tricky ones like criss-cross.
Although they come from all over the city, the little jumpers usually arrive knowing a lot of songs they’ve already picked up. “They don’t learn them here,” says Schiel teacher Jane Simon, laughing. “On the playground, they all jump. Sometimes the principal jumps with them. If the teachers are turning, they all line up to play because we give them all a chance to try.”
Late one damp and chilly March afternoon Sears gathers several students in a bright activity room. They eagerly demonstrate jump-rope jingles they all know, throwing in rousing versions of “Yankee Doodle” and “Jingle Bells” for good measure (with the inescapable logic that “Jingle Bells” is a jingle). With little prompting they happily sing “Teddy Bear,” “Cinderella,” “Down in the Valley” and the slightly ribald
Policeman, policeman
Do your duty
Here comes the lady
With the bigfat booty She can wiggle She can wobble
She can do the twist
I bet youfive dollars
She can’t do this
Turn around touch the ground
Get out of town
KATHY VALIN
Lunch V r&S'J/rJ L
Dinner
Late Night
Great Food Art Shows
Outdoor Seating Now Available ^—
M-Thurs-ll:30-lpm Fri-ll:30-12am Sat-5pm-12am
(From
Tedra Worsham, Devon Williams and Ebony Cooley
SILICON INJECTIONS
BY DAVID PESCOVITZ
Reality Ain’t What It Used to Be
The Internet’s World Wide Web is becoming a window into three-dimensional virtual reality worlds. Silicon Graphics Inc., the computer company whose machines brought dinosaurs to life in Jurassic Park, and Template Graphics Software Inc. have announced the imminent release of WebSpace, the first 3-D graphics viewing software for the World Wide Web.
Currently, most Web sites are text-heavy with static two-dimensional graphics. WebSpace, however, will enable users on the Web to zoom through computergenerated worlds and examine 3-D sculptures in virtual museums, for example.
“The primary driving force behind the desire to build 3-D Web sites is that (humans) have binocular vision,” says CyberLab-7 founder Dan Mapes, whose experimental multimedia production house is currently building virtual environments for the Web. “We’re simply trying to tailor information systems to our biology. We’re not going to quit until these on-line worlds are indistinguishable in quality from what we now call the ‘real’ world."
WebSpace supports the Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML), a new computer programming Ianguage used to create the virtual reality Web sites where one can navigate "inside” a 3-D room, for instance, instead of just mouse-clicking around twodimensional pages of text and graphics.
Beta test versions of the WebSpace viewer will be available for free download from the Silicon Graphics Web site within the next few weeks.
For more information, point your WWW browser to: http://www.sgi.com
Sounds Fishy
While Jacques Cousteau once called the ocean “the silent world,” oceanographers are now discovering that some fish make plenty of noise, especially when mating. Dr. Phillip S. Lobel and his colleagues at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts have built the Spawn-O-Meter to listen in.
The Spawn-O-Meter is a special underwater microphone that picks up low-frequency sounds and transmits them via wireless radio to a laboratory. There, fish sounds are distinguished from other reef sounds. Apparently, hamletfish pulse and toadfish whistle when they mate.
For voyeuristic fish lovers and amateur marine biologists, Lobel has also built a home aquarium version of the device. Fish Fone is available for $195 from BioAcoustics Inc. of Woods Hole.
Toll Free
Two companies have released software that enables real-time voice communication over the Internet using a home computer equipped with a speaker and a microphone. That’s free long-distance calls, people! Both the Electric Magic Company’s NetPhone (Mac) and VocalTec’s Internet Phone (PC) work fluidly over 14.4 BPS Internet connections. You can bet the telephone companies love this.
For free trial copies of the programs, point your WWW browser to: Electric Magic at http://www.emagic.com or VocalTech at http://www. vocaltec.com (Free video teleconferencing is also now available on the Internet. An examination of this astounding on-line development will appear in a future issue of CityBeat.)
DAVID PESCOVITZ (pesco@well.com) resides in San Francisco and writes Wired magazine’s “Reality Check" column.
DailyBred
Living Colors
The ins and ouch of a tattoo show
BY RON LIGGETT
Personal Style
It was the motorcycle Mecca, and the faithful had journeyed to pay homage to Harley Davidsons.
Most of those who attended the Easy Ryders exhibition recently in Columbus sported “tatts” and proudly displayed those portions of their bodies. Artisans calmly plied their trade and proudly displayed their living wares, while prospective clients browsed portfolios placed on tables.
The Latex-gloved artists routinely wiped blood from the area of skin they were puncturing. Clients smiled bravely when asked if it hurt.
It was exciting to be in this crowd of living illustrations. Those who stand out nearly everywhere else, blended in here. The overwhelming themes of tattoos were sex and death: skeletal remains, mythological creatures, Native American folklore and naked forms. Tattoos of movie stars, rock idols and cartoon characters adorned some, but carnage and carnal themes prevailed.
Many appendages and torsos were completely covered with art. These series of tattoos were referred to as “sleeves” or panels.
Rayna Evans of Circleville smiled pleasantly when asked what Wolfman of Circleville was engraving on her leg. “It’s a mermaid,” she explained. Does it hurt? Nervous?
She shook her head, “This is my sixth one, it’s all right. No pain, but the adrenaline kicks in a little bit.” She looked at the artist, “Wolfman does them all, so I’m not nervous about this one.”
Across the aisle, Ramona Devore of Brooklyn, Mich., was getting a new tattoo and having an old one touched up by Gordon Combs Jr. of Hamilton. Ramona intends to cover her body with panels.
When asked how long it would take to cover herself, she speculated, “About another five years.”
provocative attire able artwork. She
Another finalist Mich., whose image attention grabber.
Kevin Lee of area’s best work, people get tattooed,
people could care
“Is a tattoo a Lee wasn’t surprised time it was, but that, they need today on skin what The days of bikers are over. Today with paint and a We’re shedding es anything that Lee says his down to blue collar Whether you’re accepted in society.”
“Nowadays people he added, “they you’re looking at
Gordon Combs Jr. of Hamilton embellishes the on the arm of Ramona Devore of Brooklyn,
DailyBred Environmental Racism
Focus of Forum
BY POLLY CAMPBELL
If everyone in our society enjoys the benefits of a lifestyle that leads to environmental pollution, is it fair that the poorest citizens have to actually live, day to day, with the worst toxics, garbage and industrial waste? This question is at the center of what is labeled as environmental racism, or environmental justice, and will be the central topic of an open community forum May 13 in Winton Place.
The forum is part of Winton Place Days, a week-long series of events celebrating the neighborhood and fostering community connections that begins Sunday.
Environmental racism is a concept that began to coalesce over a decade ago, as evidence started showing that environmental hazards such as landfills, polluting factories and toxic dumps were disproportionately placed in low-income and minority neighborhoods. A study in 1987 by the United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice found that the most important factor influencing the placement of hazardous waste sites was the minority race of nearby residents.
Some people see the issue in economic rather than racial terms. Dave Laumer, committee chair of the Winton Place Civic Club, says, “Poor people just don’t have the wherewithal to move out of a bad situation. Public housing often ends up in areas full of pollution.”
Low-income people often don’t have the power, political connections or money to fight environmental situations. Currently in Cincinnati; the most obvious example of what can be called environmental racism is the Environmental Land Development Associates (ELDA) Landfill and its proposed expansion in the
Winton Place, Winton Hills and Winton Terrace neighborhoods, which are largely African-American or integrated. The landfill receives all of Cincinnati’s garbage.
George Hardebeck, a Winton Place resident and one of the organizers of Winton Place Days, thinks an important place to begin fighting environmental injustice is in how low-income people feel about themselves and their communities. “Communities need to take the initiative to say that we have value, no matter where we are in the economic scheme of things,” he says.
Thus, many of the events planned for Winton Place Days include storytelling, theater presentations and music. “Arts allow for personal expression and put peopie in relationship with each other,” Hardebeck says.
The community forum will include speakers from groups involved in environmental issues, discussions of environmental justice and may also incorporate theater from a women’s group that has been writing about their experiences living in Winton Hills and Winton Terrace. Laumer will moderate the forum, and he hopes there will be a benefit in raising awareness outside the immediate Winton Place neighborhood. “People who live in Anderson Township or Mount Lookout or elsewhere can throw out their garbage and never even think where it ends up,” he says. “Cincinnati has cheap garbage disposal, and people with money don’t have to live with the consequences of their garbage.”
But Laumer also says the answer to environmental injustice has to come not just from the affected communities. “We need coalitions of people of diverse backgrounds, people who live with the pollution coming together with people who can see this is just not right.”
Listings Index
Music (concerts, clubs, varied venues) 15
Film (capsule reviews, theater guide) 19
Art (galleries, exhibits, museums) 24
Onstage (theater, dance, classical music) 26
Events (cool happenings) 26
Sports (recreational, spectator) 26
Literary (signings, readings, events) 28
Attractions (museums, historic homes) 28
Etc. (events, meetings, attractions) 29
Upcoming (a look at what’s ahead) 30
Not Just an Entertainment Calendar... A State of Mind
This Week’s Theme: Things are not what they seem
Utter Failure Recommendations ★ CityBeat staffs stamp of approval \
To be included
Way. Downtown. $8/$10 day of show. 721-1000.
SPONGE WITH EVERCLEAR Alternative. 7 p.m. Thursday. Bogart’s, 2621 Vine St., Corryville. $7.50/$9 day of show. 749-4949.
ADAM ANT WITH DWELLERS New Wave. 7:30 p.m. Friday. Bogart's. 2621 Vine St., Corryville. $11/$13 day of show. 749-4949.
★ CHRIS SMITHER Born in New Orleans, this singer/ songwriter/guitarist has an uncanny knack for using song to create mood. 9 p.m. Saturday. The Southgate House, 24 E. Third St., Newport. $10. 779-9462.
The Kentucky Derby is here once again. Our money’s on Serena’s Song. But if you really want to rake in the moolah, we suggest buying into the track itself. Even when it SEEMS LIKE YOU’RE WINNING, just wait a few days. The track will get it back. It always does. Speaking of horses, Campbell’s Soup is bringing a mix of ice skaters to the Queen City, including Nancy “horsey-face” Kerrigan, who graced the Olympics with bad-sportsmanship and ill manners. What a pity. Back when she first hit the news, she seemed like SUCH A NICE GAL. (See Sports.) Out of the goodness of their hearts, author Michael Rosen and illustrator Will Hillenbrand will conduct a $55 workshop for A.A. Milne WANNABES. Whatsmore, for a MERE $50, Rosen also will review your children’s book. Tell you what: Send your manuscripts to us, and we’ll do it for $25. (See Literary.) If you want to get high, go to the Carew Tower Observation Deck. Check out all the ugly new buildings that replaced all the beautiful old buildings. Oh well, it seemed like a good idea at the time to rip down those PESKY ARCHITECTURAL DELIGHTS. (See Attractions.) Don’t try on Ron Isaacs’ ereation at Toni Birckhead Gallery. What seems to be a black leather jacket (above) is in fact wood. It’s just one of the many TRICKS OF THE EYE he plays. It’s like going to Saks Fifth Avenue and fitting into a designer size 4 when you know you’re a Kmart 8.
Submit information for CityBeat calendar listings in writing by noon Thursday, seven days before publication. Mail to: Billie Jeyes, Listings Editor, Cincinnati CityBeat, 23 E. Seventh St,, Suite 617, Cincinnati, OH 45202. Fax: 665-4369.
SPYRO GYRA WITH JOHN MCCELLAN Jazz. 7:30 p.m. Saturday. Bogart’s, 2621 Vine St., Corryville. $13/$14 day of show. 749-4949.
Please include a contact name and daytime phone number.
THE BAND Classic Rock. 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Bogart’s, 2621 Vine St., Corryville. $15. 749^)949. DOKKEN Metal. 8 p.m. Tuesday. Annie's. 4343 Kellogg Ave., East End. $15. 321-0220.
BRIAN EWING Acoustic Alternative. Noon Friday. Merl’s Eatery, 815 Elm St., Downtown. 723-1217. THE EARL WALDMAN TRIO Jazz. 7:30 p.m. Friday. Barcelonas, 4858 Cooper Road, Blue Ash. 791-9191.
JIM WALKER, MIKE GARSON, BENNY KIM AND ERIC KIM Jazz/Classical. 7 p.m. Friday. Council Chambers at City Hall, 801 Plum St., Downtown. $8/$10 at the door. 381-6868.
NICK GIACONIA Acoustic Folk. 8 p.m. Friday. Blue Jordan Coffeehouse, 4573 Hamilton Ave., Northside. 541-F0RK.
JANET PRESSLEY WITH BINGO BONGO Acoustic Folk. 8 p.m. Saturday. Blue Jordan Coffeehouse, 4573 Hamilton Ave., Northside. 541-FORK.
KATIE REIDER AND ANDY SIMMS Acoustic Folk. 8 p.m. Saturday. Crossroads Coffeehouse, 8691 Fields Ertel Road, Symmes Township. 736-3154.
KENTUCKY HEADHUNTERS Country. 8 p.m. Wednesday. Cut to the Chase, 700 West Pete Rose Way, Downtown. $10/$12 day of show. 721-1000.
Strike Back: For those interested in not spending their hardearned entertainment dollars on the “strike? what strike?” Cincinnati Reds home games, CityBeat recommends these alternatives: 7=35 p.m. Thursday, Closson’s opening reception for artist Ray Ellis; 7:35 p.m. Friday, Cincinnati Children's Theater’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; 2:15 p.m. Saturday, a book signing by Robert Grant, author of The December Rose; and 2:15 p.m. Sunday, Newport’s Annual Spring Historic Home and Garden Tour. Details follow in the listings.
KYLE MEADOWS Dulcimer. p.m. Saturday. Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Rookwood Pavilion Madison and Edwards roads,
Clubs Directory
COURTYARD CAFE
DANCE
751-9272.
BLIND LEMON 936 Hatch St., Mount Adams. 241-3885.
BLUE NOTE CAFE
4520 W. Eighth St., Price Hill. 921-8898.
CLUB CHRONIC
616 Ruth Lyons Lane, Downtown. Call for days and times. 621-4115.
CLUB PARAGON
15 E. Seventh St., Newport. 581-5518.
BLUE WISP JAZZ CLUB 19 Garfield Place, Downtown. 721-9801.
BOBBY MACKEY’S MUSIC WORLD 44 Licking Pike, Wilder. 431-5588.
10 p.m.-4 a.m. Friday-Saturday.
THE CONSERVATORY
640 W. Third St., Covington. 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Friday-Saturday. 491-6400.
BOGART’S 2621 Vine St., Corryville. 281-8400. BRIARWOOD 7440 Hamilton Ave., Mount Healthy. 729-2554.
COOTER’S University Plaza, Vine Street, Corryville. 8 p.m.-2 a.m.
Tuesday-Sunday. Until 4 a.m. Friday and Saturday. 751-2642
620 Scott St., Covington. 431-0551. IVORY’S JAZZ CABARET
2469 W. McMicken, Fairview Heights. 684-0300.
J A FLATS Forest Fair Mall, Forest Park. 671-LIVE.
KATMANDU CAFE NEWPORT 1811 Monmouth St., Newport. 291-7500. KNOTTY PINE BAR 6847 Cheviot Road, White Oak. 741-3900. LOCAL 1207 1207 Main St., Downtown. 651-1207. LOGO’S 8954 Blue Ash Road, Blue Ash. 791-7700.
LONGWORTH’S 1108 St. Gregory St., Mount Adams. 579-0900. MAIN STREET BREWERY 1203 Main St., Over-the-Rhine. 665-4677. MANSION HILL TAVERN 502 Washington St., Newport. 431-3538.
JIM & JACK’S RIVERSIDE SPORTS BAR 3456 River Road, Riverside. 251-7977.
KALDI’S COFFEE HOUSE & BOOKSTORE 1204 Main St., Over-the-Rhine. 241-3070.
MURRAY’S PUB 2169 Queen City Ave., Fairmount. 661-6215. NEW NINETIES NIGHT CLUB 3613 Harrison Ave., Cheviot. 481-9013. OGDEN’S PLACE 25 W. Ogden Place, Downtown. 381-3114. OZZIE'S PUB & EATERY 116 E. High St., Oxford. 513-523-3134. PALACE CLUB 2346 Grange Hall Road, Dayton, Ohio. 513-426-9305.
■■. featuring DAVID LOWERY OF CRACKER w/ BRIAN LOVELY & THE SECRET
SATURDAY, MAY 13
SALT w/THE MUFFS
Logan’s Run
At 35, Jack Logan is proof you're never too old to start rocking Music
Jack Logan’s nearly universal critical success is as improbable as “Mr. Peabody’s History.” In an industry obsessed with bigness (big advances, big studio budgets, big releases, big hair, big egos), Logan is a little artist. And he wouldn’t have it any other way.
Take, for instance, the media buzz surrounding his first (official) release Bulk (Medium Cool). Logan’s name has shown up consistently in all the right places (four-star Rolling Stone review, glowing performance reviews in The New York Times, Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer), including an overwhelming number of Top 10 lists for 1994. His philosophical reflections on this glare of attention: “Critical acclaim is an amazing thing, but they don’t pay you for that.”
The 35-year-old is completely unaffected by his newfound celebrity, as if it were happening to someone else. “It’s a strange thing,” Logan says in a drawl that’s equal parts Midwestern roots and Georgia branches. “To be truthful, I think a lot of it is this angle of a working schmoe with a bunch of songs who just happened to put them out. By the next record, we’ll probably just be another band.”
BRUCE COCKBURN WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21
SPONGE w / EVERCLEAR
THURSDAY, MAY 4
ADAMANT w/ THE DWELLERS FRIDAY, MAY 5
SPYROGYRA w/ JOHN McCELLAN
SATURDAY, MAY 6
ALL W/ TOADIES & SEASON TO RISK THURSDAY, MAY 18
DEL AMITRI
w / MELISSA FERRICK SATURDAY, MAY 20
JULIANA HATFIELD w/ JEFF BUCKLEY & COLD WATER FLAT WEDNESDAY, MAY 24
LETTERS TOCLEO W/ MOIST THURSDAY, MAY 25
MORPHINE
SUNDAY, MAY 28
KMFDM&DINK
SATURDAY, JUNE 3
MUDHONEY
W/ CLAW HAMMER
MONDAY, JUNE 12
TUCK& PATTI FRIDAY, JUNE 23
IT’S ALWAYS BEEN TRUE... THIS BUD’S FOR YOU
Maybe, but it’s doubtful. Logan’s “bunch of songs” total is, by recent reckoning, almost 700. Think about that for a minute. If a band writes its own material and releases an album per year for 20 years, with an average of 14 songs per album, and has maybe four albums’ worth of stuff that never made it to any release, that amounts to 346 songs. Double that output, and you’ve got Jack Logan’s songbook.
Logan’s influences include the Rolling Stones, Neil Young and Hank Williams and genres as disparate as Punk and Jazz. The songs on Bulk reflect that quilt of experience, all the while measuring in Logan’s own talents as a keen observer with an eye for detail and an ear for retelling.
“Don’t quit your day job” is an admoration thrown around liberally in the music industry, and Logan has taken it quite seriously. He still works full-time repairing swimming pool motors and feels it may be a while before he can concentrate completely on his music. But he’s ready to take his shot.
“I’d feel like an idiot if I said, ‘Naw, I’m just gonna keep working at the garage and I’ll give you some tapes every once
in a while, just leave me alone,’ says Logan. “I have no fear of being totally ignored.”
Logan’s songs are the heart of his existence, but for now the tour’s the thing. This current two-week jaunt (which stopped in Cincinnati at Sudsy Malone’s on May 1) represents the furthest afield Logan and the band, Liquor Cabinet, have traveled and the longest
they have been away from their jobs.
“This is to see how we’ll work a tour,” says Logan. “We just want to see if we can make enough money from this to keep doing it. We’re all pretty old guys. It’s not like we can just pile in a van and go out for a month and sleep on floors and play for beer money.”
While Logan aspires to some level of success, he understands that Bulk's charm may not translate to its follow-up. “Some people may hate our next record because there’s no air conditioners going off and dogs barking,” he jests. The next album, slated for release this fall, was recorded more conventionally. Sort of.
“We went up to Indiana, in these friends’ barn,” Logan says. “We had about 15 songs, and we wrote about 15 or 20 while we were up there. We’ll pick 15 out of that lot. Just a regular old record, I guess. It’ll be a fairly.eclectic little mix again, some soft acoustic stuff, some louder electric stuff. It’s, you know, the best we could do at the time.”
Jack Logan and Liquor Cabinet are (from left) Aaron Phillips, Kelly Keneipp, Jack Logan, Dave Philips and Eric Sales.
Music
KEN COWDEN AND CHRIS
GOINS Acoustic Rock. Shady
O’Grady’s. Free.
KEVIN TOHLE Classic Rock. Zipper’s. Free.
KRIS BROWN Acoustic. Blind Lemon. Cover.
LYNN CALLAHAN Acoustic. Local 1207. Cover.
MILLIE WILSON Blues. Coco’s. Cover.
MODULATORS Eclectic. Mt. Adams Pavilion. Cover.
NEMATONES Acoustic. York Street International Cafe. Free.
PLOUGH HOUSE Folk Rock. Top Cat’s. Cover.
POSITIVE REACTION Reggae. Club Gotham. Cover.
RADIAL SPANGLE WITH SPOONBENDER Alternative. Sudsy Malone’s. Cover.
SNOWSHOE CRABS Alternative Rock favorites. Salamone’s. Cover.
UPTOWN RHYTHM AND BLUES Rhythm and Blues. Stow’s. Cover.
FRIDAY
MAY 5
AIN’T HELEN Folk. York Street International Cafe. Free.
ALLIANCE Rock. New ‘90s. Cover.
ANN CHAMBERLAIN JAZZ TRIO Jazz. Coco’s. Cover.
BOB CUSHING Acoustic. Village Tavern. Free.
★ BU BU KLAN WITH FLY, JOHARI WINDOW AND SNOOZE
BUTTON TRIVIA These local Alternative bands join in an eclectic mix to raise money for Amnesty International and F.L.E.X., an organization that literacy. Top Cat’s. Cover.
COLD SMOKE Rock. Chatterbox. Cover.
CRAZY TRAIN Ozzy favorites. Annie’s. Cover.
DOUBLESHOT WITH ANNIE
ELLIS Pop. Briarwood. Free.
EUGENE GOSS AND KEN KRESGE Jazz. Promontory. Free.
GOSHORN BROS. Classic Rock. Tommy’s. Cover.
HOWLIN’ MAGGIE WITH SPEAKBOY Alternative. Sudsy Malone’s. Cover.
JIM GILLUM Acoustic. Blind Lemon. Cover.
★ JUPITER COYOTE From Macon, Ga., this band plays what members call “Mountain Rock" a mix of Blues, Funk and Southern Roots Rock. Ripleys. Cover.
KATY MOFFETT Folk. Southgate House. Cover.
KEITH LITTLE AND THE DLUES BODY Blues. Coco’s. Cover. THE MENUS Rock favorites. Salamone’s. Cover.
ONLY MORTALS Alternative.
Shady O’Grady’s. Cover.
RICOCHET Country. Cut to the Chase. Cover.
SHINDIG Rock favorites. Murray’s. Cover.
UNDERCURRENT Rock. Intown Cafe. Cover.
VEGAS GRANT Rock. Logo’s. Cover.
THE WOODPECKERS, THE WEBSTERS, AND MORE Rock favorites. Caddy’s. $5.
SATURDAY
MAY 6
THE AKOUSTIKATS Eclectic Acoustic. Mt. Lookout Tavern. Free.
ALLIANCE Rock. New ‘90s. Cover.
ANVIL SLUGS Rock favorites. Murray’s. Cover.
THE ARTHUR MONK TRIO WITH KARIN BERGQUIST Rock. Ripleys. Cover.
THE BILLY LARKIN TRIO Jazz. Promontory. Free.
BOB CUSHING Acoustic. Million’s Cafe. Free.
COLD SMOKE Rock. Chatterbox. Cover.
CRAWDADDY, THE WOODPECKERS, THE WEBSTERS AND MORE Rock favorites. Caddy’s. $5.
CRAZY TRAIN Ozzy favorites.
Annie’s. Cover.
DEEP WATER JUNCTION Rock.
Top Cat's. Cover.
DOCK ELLIS Alternative Rock. Sudsy Malone’s. Cover.
DOUBLESHOT WITH ANNIE
ELLIS Pop. Briarwood. Free.
GOSHORN BROS. Classic Rock. Tommy’s. Cover.
JOHNNY SCHOTT AND GUESTS Acoustic. Empire. Free. THE MENUS Rock favorites. Salamone’s. Cover.
MICHAEL DENTON Acoustic. Blind Lemon. Cover.
MILLIE WILSON Blues. Coco’s. Cover.
MYSTERY WAGON Folk Alternative. Zipper’s. Free.
PLOW ON BOY Folk/Alternative. York Street International Cafe. Free.
RICOCHET Country. Cut to the Chase. Cover.
ROBIN LACY AND DEZYDECO Zydeco. Shady O’Grady’s. Cover.
SCRAWL WITH THE WOLVERTON BROS. AND DITCHWEED Alternative. Stache’s. Cover.
SHIRLEY JESTER JAZZ TRIO Jazz. Coco’s. Cover.
TIM MORRIS Delta Blues. Scooter’s. Cover.
TOM MARTIN Rock. Mt. Adams Pavilion. Cover.
UNDERCURRENT Rock. Intown Cafe. Cover.
VEGAS GRANT Rock. Logo’s. Cover.
SUNDAY
MAY 7
BLUE BIRDS Blues. Allyn’s Cafe. Cover.
DAVE SAMS Acoustic. Blind Lemon. Cover.
EUROPA GYPSY TRIO Acoustic. Main Street Brewery. Cover. THE IMPULSE BAND FEATURING RICHARD DANIELS Jazz. Babe Baker’s. Free.
JOHN KOGGE AND THE LONESOME STRANGERS Folk. The Stadium. Cover.
LUBE, OIL AND FILTER Rockabilly. Mt. Adams Pavilion. Cover. MILHAUS AND THE MENUS Rock favorites. Blue Note Cafe. Cover. NOAH HUNT AND JASON DENNIE Acoustic. Tommy’s. Free.
RAILROAD JERK WITH CROATAN Alternative. Sudsy Malone’s. Cover.
STACY THE BLUES DOCTOR WITH BLUES U CAN USE Blues. Local 1207. Cover.
MONDAY
MAY 8
BILLY LARKIN Jazz. Promontory. Free.
BOB CUSHING Acoustic. Cloverleaf Lakes. Free. BRIAN EWING Acoustic. Blind Lemon. Cover.
DAYTON JAZZ ORCHESTRA Big Band. Gilly’s. Cover.
FRED GARY AND DOTTIE WARNER Eclectic. Arnold’s. Free. THE MADHATTERS WITH MY FRIEND KEVIN Alternative. Sudsy Malone’s. Cover.
MARC MICHAELSON Rock. Mt. Adams Pavilion. Cover.
PHIL BLANK Blues. Burbank's Sharonville. Free.
RELAYER Rock. Salamone’s. Cover.
TUESDAY
MAY 9
BRIAN LOVELY AND THE SECRET Alternative Rock. Tommy’s. Cover. CRAWDADDY Acoustic Alternative favorites. Scooter’s. Free. BOB CUSHING Acoustic. Foley’s Western Hills. Free.
THE DIXIE CRUISERS
Dixieland Jazz. Arnold's. Free. JIM CONWAY Acoustic. Blind Lemon. Cover.
LAURIE TRAVELINE, CHRIS ALLEN AND MILES LORETTA Acoustic. The Friendly Stop. Free.
LEFTOVER SALMON Rock. Ripleys. Cover. OPEN MIC Folk. Canal Street Tavern. Cover.
PHIL BLANK Blues. Burbank’s Sharonville. Free.
SNARE AND THE IDIOTS Alternative. Sudsy Malone’s. Cover.
STAND Rock. Salamone’s. Cover.
STEVE SCHMIDT Jazz. Promontory. Cover.
Local Scene SPILL IT
BY MIKE BREEN
Xpose Yourself
TicketMaster Showcase. There are no panel discussions or business brunches, but you might get the chance to be heard by some record label big wig who can make you a star, baby. The finalists appear at battle-ofthe-band type events all over the country, including right here in Cincinnati. For an application, pick up the most recent issue of Musician magazine at your local newsstand. You’re too late if you want to participate in the showcases at Cleveland’s Undercurrents '95. But if you’re up for a fun road trip and want to see some of your favorite local bands without the glow of local admiration, head north May 18-20. Roundhead, Ditchweed, Dock Ellis, SHAG and Snaggletooth all made the cut and will be performing in the Cleveland clubs.
All you musically inclined types should take note: 97X, Oxford/Cincinnati’s premiere “Modern Rock" station, has started excepting entries for its 11th annual local band competition. Deadline for 97Xposure ’95 is May 26.
Club Hop
Bands should send a cassette or CD with two songs and a group bio. The top 20 entries will be announced (and broadcast) June 2, starting at 8 p.m. Then, eight semifinalists will be judged at a live showcase, with the final four finalists battling it out at Bogart’s later in June. Winners will receive a boatload of studio time and band-related equipment and services.
Last year’s final four were Circus of the Sun, the Jayne Sachs Band, Shelly and Brian Lovely and the Secret, with Lovely taking home top honors.
Sunday’s the day and downtown is the place for the widest mix of local music during the fifth annual Performers Benefit '95. Tons of diverse local musicians will be performing at clubs up and down the Main Street district, beginning at 6 p.m. The music runs the gamut expert Blues (Johnny Fink and the Intrusion, High Street Rhythm Rockers, Pigmeat Jarrett), eclectic Alternative (the Rottweilers, Plow on Boy, Brian Lovely and the Secret), acoustic-based Folk (Janet Pressley, Fred Steffen), Jazz (Sylvain Acher Trio, Glenn Ginn Quartet) many other styles. The tickets (available at Flip Side Records on Main) are only $7 and get you into all the participating clubs. The show will raise funds for local homeless organizations.
Spoon, Man
Showcase Season
If local musicians missed getting their entry in or didn’t make the cut for the South by Southwest Music Conference in March, fear not. There are a few more opportunities for you to have the chance to show your wares in front of big shot, industry weasels in the coming months:
Spoonbender is a four-piece, guitar-driven band that has been playing the local clubs for more than a year. Made up of former Middlemarch and Mortals alumni, the band’s latest venture into local Ultrasuede Studios in April yielded a tape that is a powerful show of big guitar sounds and catchy yet uncontrived and untraditional melodies. On songs like “Disgruntled” and “Great Monsoon,” the members of Spoonbender have created some to-the-point Alternative Rock without pretensions and posings. The cassette is currently unavailable, but your chance to see the band live is Thursday as the group opens for Radial Spangle at Sudsy Malone's.
Send all music-related materials to MIKE BREEN, Cincinnati CityBeat, 23 E. Seventh St., Suite 617, Cincinnati, OH 45202.
The College Music Journal's Music Marathon is one of the best of the festival/seminar/showcase events. In its 15th year, the marathon has featured everyone from R.E.M. to Jane’s Addiction to Green Day to Hiisker Du in the past. The shows take place Sept. 6-9 all over Manhattan, and this year the convention will be held at Lincoln Center. For information, call 516-466-6000, Ext. 55; or write to CMJ, 11 Middle Neck Road, Suite 400, Great Neck, NY 11021-2301. This is a great opportunity for hopeful Alternative acts, especially with this year’s cancellation of CMJ’s rival showcase, the New Music Seminar.
The Cutting Edge Music Business Conference is more open to all fields of music. (CMJ is geared toward Alternative.) Cutting Edge runs Aug. 30 to Sept. 3 and is an excellent chance to “network” your way into the biz. Call 504-827-5700; fax to 504-827-1115; or write 710 S. Broad St., New Orleans, LA 70119.
Less of a schmooze-thang is the
Short Takes
REVIEWS BY MIKE BREEN
PLANT/PAGE Seen live at Riverfront Coliseum, April 25. The Led Zeppelin founders, who could have quite easily slogged out all the hits and rested on their legacy, put on a surprisingly ereative and vital show that proved that the inventiveness that ereated the band’s most interesting music in Zep’s heyday, still lurks in Robert Plant and Jimmy Page’s soul. Opening with a true, cutting version of photo: craig wEioiEiN “Thank You,” the Robert Plant performance featured a young backing band that seemed to spark the two front guys to new heights. A stumble or two (a misguided stab at the Doors’ “Break On Through,” for example) were more than made up for by the expanded arrangements (like the Middle Eastern-flavored “Kashmir,” complete with string section) and energetic renderings (they pulled off “Black Dog” with dignity). While 70s counterparts the Eagles sat on stools at Riverbend and charged more than $100 for tickets, Plant and Page showed integrity and ingenuity with this vibrant performance. CityBeat grade: A.
JUPITER COYOTE Lucky Day (Autonomous, 1100 Spring St., Suite 104-A, Atlanta, GA 30309).
Straight out of Macon, Ga., comes Jupiter Coyote playing a sublime mix of Blues, Funk and Roots Rock. The band’s slinky Southern sound recalls a lighter version of the Allman Bros. The group’s straight-ahead approach is organically refreshing. Lucky Day was produced by Johnny Sandlin who has worked with the Allmans and who gives Lucky Day an uncluttered sound, wisely letting the group’s groovy “Mountain Rock” speak in its own, crystal clear voice. Jupiter Coyote performs Friday at Ripleys.
CityBeat grade: B.
CHRIS SMITHER Up on the Lowdown (Hightone, 220 Fourth St., Suite 101, Oakland, CA 94607).
Singer/songwriter Smither has been lauded by Bonnie Raitt as being “my Eric Clapton,” but Smither’s heart-felt guitar playing is only scraping the surface of the stirring and enigmatic sounds that protrude from Up on the Lowdown. The mood of Lowdown is raw and dirty, yet the songs themselves are wildly beautiful, possessing a bluesy depth that simultaneously conjures images of Robert Johnson and Townes Van Zandt. Smither presents the songs starkly, without much outside instrumentation. The engaging, dramatic result is blissfully mystical. Smither performs Saturday at the Southgate House.
CityBeat grade: A.
RAILROAD JERK One Track Mind (Matador).
Since the 1990, self-titled debut, this NYC-based band’s black Blues heart has gotten increasingly soulful. One Track Mind is the pinnacle of the band’s recorded career with its gravel swagger and evil groove. While this release is the band’s most focused, an endearing derangement and scatter-brained poignancy spill over throughout the quirky, pummeling tracks. Railroad Jerk performs Sunday at Sudsy Malone’s with locals Croatan. CityBeat grade: A.
WEDNESDAY MAY 10
ARNOLD’S WEDNESDAY NIGHT
GUYS Eclectic. Arnold’s. Free.
THE BILLY LARKIN TRIO WITH MANDY GAINES Jazz. Promontory. Cover.
BLUE WISP BIG BAND Jazz. Blue Wisp. Cover.
BRIAN LOVELY AND THE SECRET Alternative Rock. Shady O’Grady’s. Free.
CELTIC JAM Celtic. Hap’s Irish Pub. Free.
CINCINNATI BLUES ALL-STARS Blues. Tommy’s. Cover.
CLANDlAH Alternative. Sudsy Malone’s. Cover.
CURTIS CHARLES Classic Rock. Zipper’s. Free.
DARIN JOLESTON/SCOTT BURNS QUINTET Jazz. York Street International Cafe. Free.
FOREHEAD Alternative favorites. Murray's Pub. Cover.
GREENWICH TAVERN JAZZ
ENSEMBLE Jazz. Greenwich Tavern. Cover.
JEFF GOITHER Acoustic. Blind Lemon. Cover.
THE MENUS Rock favorites. Katmandu Cafe. Cover.
MYRON GABBARD Classic Folk and Rock. Scooter’s. Cover.
NOAH HUNT AND JASON DENNIE Acoustic. Local 1207. Cover.
OPEN MIC WITH SHANNYN COOK Open mic. Empire. Free.
OVERDUE AND THE MENUS Rock favorites. Blue Note Cafe. Cover.
PHIL BLANK Blues. Burbank’s Sharonville. Free.
PIGMEAT JARRETT Blues. Allyn’S'Cafe. Cover.
SHINDIG Rock favorites. Murray’s Pub. Cover.
TRILOGY Classic Rock. Mt. Adams Pavilion. Cover.
UPRISING Reggae. Ripleys. Cover.
THE WEBSTERS Alternative favorites. Salamone’s. Cover.
Coming Soon...
AQUARIUM RESCUE UNIT
Ripleys. Saturday, May 13. Cover. 861-6506.
VERUCA SALT WITH THE MUFFS Bogart’s. Wednesday, May 17. $12/$13.50 day of show. 749-4949.
ALL WITH THE TOADIES Bogart’s. Thursday, May 18. $6.50/$8 day of show. 749-4949.
JULIANA HATFIELD WITH JEFF BUCKLEY AND COLD WATER FLAT Bogart's. Wednesday, May 24. $10/$12 day of show. 749^1949.
MERLE HAGGARD AND THE STRANGERS Coyotes. Wednesday, May 24. $12. 721-1000.
LETTERS TO CLEO Bogart’s. Thursday, May 25. $5. 749-4949.
MORPHINE Bogart’s. Sunday, May 28. $15. 749-4949.
SHENANDOAH Cut to the Chase. Friday, June 2. $12/$14 day of show. 721-1000.
KMFDM WITH DINK Bogart’s. Saturday, June 3. $12.50/$14 day of show. 749-4949.
MELISSA ETHERIDGE Riverbend. Tuesday, June 6. $24.25, $34.75, $47.25. 749-4949.
OTIS RUSH WITH WILLIAM CLARKE Coney Island Moonlite Gardens. Friday, June 9. $12.50/$15 day of show. 749-4949.
MUDHONEY WITH CLAWHAMMER Bogart’s. Monday, June 12. $10/$12 day of show. 749-4949.
THE TEMPTATIONS, THE FOUR TOPS AND MARY WILSON Riverbend. Wednesday, June 28. Prices TBA. 749-4949.
OVER THE RHINE WITH PLOW ON BOY Coney Island’s Moonlite Gardens. Friday, July 14. 232-8230.
SUMMARIES AND CAPSULE REVIEWS BY STEVE RAMOS
Opening
BAR GIRLS A message to everyone who refuses to see Bar Girls because it’s about lesbians: You lose! Looking back at their own experiences, screenwriter Lauran Hoffman and director Marita Giovanni toss together believable characters, witty dialogue and poignant romance into a thoroughly good-time movie. Loretta (Nancy Allison Wolfe), a writer for a TV cartoon series, falls in love with an aspiring actress Rachel (Liza D’Agostino). No one's talking about a Cinderella story here. Petty jealousies, infidelities and amateur psychoanalyzing keep this story firm in reality. Giovanni also keeps the jokes coming fast. Benefiting from strong lead performances by Wolfe and D'Agostino, Bar Girls succeeds a traditional narrative in ways that last summer’s Go Fish never did. Calling Bar Girls a lesbian comedy puts its priorities backward. It’s a funny comedy, and most of its characters are lesbians. Looking to make a sexual/political statement? Go see Bar Girls. Simply interested in seeing a funny movie? Go see Bar Girls. Wow. Everybody’s happy. With Lisa Parker. (Rated R; opens Friday at the Movies.)
CityBeat grade: B. FRENCH KISS The summermovie season gets off to a fine start with this lighthearted comedy. Finding out that her fiance (Timothy Hutton) has fallen in love with someone else, a young woman, Kate (Meg Ryan) travels to Paris to win him back. Offering support is a charming French con man (Kevin Kline). Ryan nails down her littie-girl routine and turns in a strong comic performance. After last mer’s dismal Wyatt Earp, director Lawrence Kasdan bounces back with a flourish. With Jean Reno. (Rated PG-13; opens Friday at area Showcase Cinemas.)
CityBeat grade: B. ONCE WERE WARRIORS Director Lee Tamahori pays homage to directors like Sam Peckinpah and. Don Siegel in this brutal, fast-paced look at a contemporary Maori family in urban New Zealand. Living a life drenched in beer, violence and poverty, Beth Heke (Rena Owen) tries to create a good home with her husband Jake (Temura Morrison) and her children. Sometimes, the real world does not provide happy endings, and few films are as brutally honest as Tamahori’s Once Were Warriors. When this reviewer saw Once Were Warriors at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, people in the audience screamed with fright. Its story will shock, but there’s no turning away. Few thrillers find their way to American art houses and few films provide heart-pounding thrills like Once Were Warriors. (Rated R;
issues
Regarding
For the 11th consecutive year, 97X is proud to showcase the best local bands in 97Xposure, the Tri-State’s premiere local band competition. The Top 20 local band tapes will be selected from all eligible entries and will be broadcast on Friday, June 2nd, from & to 10pm. That evening, the Top & bands will be selected to compete in two separate live venue semi-finals of four bands each. The Final Four competition will again be held at BOGART’S and the 97Xposure Band of the Year will be selected by a panel of guest judges. The Top 20 bands will be included in an 11th year 97Xposure Compilation Cassette. Finally, 97X will send a letter of introduction and cassette on behalf of the Final Four Bands to 60 major and independent record labels touting their accomplishment! The Fine Print:
To: Unsigned Local Bands (from the Tri-State)
of the Year Prize Package:
Film
the simple goal of making people laugh, Bye Bye, Love hits the target more than it misses. With Amy Brenneman and Lindsay Crouse. (Rated PG-13; opens Friday at Norwood, Turfway, Forest Fair and Biggs Place Eastgate.)
poet/musician Jim Carroll’s The Basketball Diaries finally makes it to the silver screen.
CANDYMAN FAREWELL TO THE FLESH Poor Candyman (Tony Todd), he could have been a horrormovie contender, the next Freddy Krueger. Now, after this awful sequel to the hit film Candyman, he's just monster-bum. With Veronica Cartwright. (Rated R; at Norwood, Turfway, Forest fair and Biggs Place Eastgate.)
Carroll (Leonardo DiCaprio) and friends Mickey (Mark Wahlberg), Pedro (James Madio) and Neutron (Patrick McGaw) are hot high school basketball players, but the streets possess temptations hard for a teen-ager to say no to. Carroll soon finds himself locked in heroin addiction. For his next fix, he’ll turn tricks. He'll steal. He’s on the brink of death.
DiCaprio’s performance is the most inspired turn from a young actor in a very long time. Hollywood gossip has him starring in the James Dean biography. Sounds just right. With Lorraine Bracco and Ernie Hudson. (Rated R; at Loews Kenwood Twin, Tri County and Florence.)
CIRCLE OF FRIENDS Love and laughter in 1957 Ireland. Considering herself fat and ugly, young Benny (Minnie Driver) falls in love with Jack (Chris O’Donnell), the cutest boy in her freshman university class. Director Pat O’Connor brings Maeve Binchy’s well-known novel to the screen. With Colin Firth and Saffron Burrows. (Rated PG; at Loews Kenwood Towne Centre, Florence and Northgate.)
★ CLERKS Before Miramax tests the ratings board's patience with Kids later this summer, why not rewatch film-school dropout Kevin Smith’s movie about conveniencestore clerks? Clerks is sometimes crude, often rude, but always hilarious. (Rated R; closes Thursday at the Movies; 11:30 p.m. Friday at the New Neon Movies, Dayton.)
BILLY MADISON In order to inherit his father’s (Darren McGavin) billion-dollar hotel business, 27-year-old Billy Madison (Adam Sandler) must repeat all 12 grades of school in less than six months. Audiences didn’t follow Sandler from Saturday Night Live to the big screen. Maybe next time he’ll do his "opera man” routine. With Josh Mostel. (Rated PG-13; at Turfway, Forest Fair and Biggs Place Eastgate.)
THE CURE Hollywood takes touching subject like a child inflicted with HIV and turns it into a pile of hokey mush. Called "AIDS boy” by the local hooligans, 11-year-old Dexter (Joseph Mazzello) develops a friendship with Eric (Brad Renfro), his nextdoor neighbor. Together they pursue a cure for Dexter’s illness. Overladen with touchy-feely sentiment, The Cure proves that complex issues such as children inflicted with the HIV virus do not transfer well to an antiseptic Hollywood treatment. With Bruce Davison. (Rated PG-13; at Kenwood Towne Centre and Florence; closes Thursday at Tri County, 275 East and Northgate.)
Little-Big Girl
Star Trek Generations, here’s a real out-of-space adventure. (Unrated; at Robert D. Lindner Family Omnimax Theater.)
Acting like a child in the comedy Trench Kiss, Meg Ryanfinds her niche
DESTINY TURNS ON THE RADIO Being Hollywood’s hottest director is not enough for Quentin Tarantino. He wants to be an actor. Go figure. Julian Goddard (Dylan McDermott), an escaped convict, hitches a ride to Las Vegas with a mysterious driver named Destiny (Tarantino). Goddard wants to reclaim his stolen fortune and the love of his life, Lucille (Nancy Travis). With James Belushi and Bobcat Goldthwait. (Rated R; at Loews Kenwood Towne Centre, Florence, Tri County, 275 East and Showcase Cinemas Cincinnati.)
REVIEW BY STEVE R A M O S Film
Today’s Hollywood has little interest for mature women, but it loves little girls. Look on the screen. Wrinkle-free faces and childlike innocence mixed with the sexuality of an experienced adult are the dominant female images the movies show.
DON JUAN DEMARCO A psy chiatrist, Jack Mickler (Marlon Brando) treats a young man (Johnny Depp) who believes himself to be the infamous Spanish lover. Depp looks fine with his shirt unbuttoned to his waist, but his portrayal here is erotically vacant. Looking overweight, pastyskinned and in poor health, Brando still walks onto a scene and steals it. This attempt at a sexy comedy is nothing but a real snoozer. With Faye Dunaway. (Rated PG-13; at Showcase Cinemas Cincinnati and Springdale; opens Friday at Florence.)
It’s good news for actress Meg Ryan. She’s cinema’s No. 1 little rascal, and her latest film, director Lawrence Kasdan’s comedy French Kiss proves it.
BORN TO BE WILD Punished by his mother (Helen Shaver), 14-year-old Rick (Wil Horneff) faces the burdensome task of cleaning her animal research lab everyday after school. Life stinks. But then, Rick meets a new friend at the lab, Katie. She’s funny. Smart. A real friend. Oh yeah, Katie's also a 3-year-old gorilla. Kids are ignoring this tale of boy-beast friendship. Guess they’re waiting for Disney’s Pocahontas. (Rated PG; opens Friday at Norwood, Turfway, Forest Fair and Biggs Place Eastgate.)
★ DESTINY IN SPACE This time, IMAX cameras follow the space shuttle as it repairs the Hubble, and the images are amazing. Move over
Finally... a romantic comedy without men.
★ BYE BYE, LOVE In the family comedy Bye Bye, Love, three best friends Donny (Paul Reiser), Vic (Randy Quaid) and Dave (Matthew Modine), all recently divorced complete their weekly ritual of picking up their kids for the weekend at a neighborhood McDonald’s. Setting out with
DROP ZONE Director John Badham (War Games) wastes the talents of Wesley Snipes and Gary Busey in this lame action movie about terrorists stealing secrets from the Drug Enforcement Agency. (Rated R; at Norwood, Turfway and Forest Fair.)
DUMB AND DUMBER Before movie audiences get to see Jim Carrey vamp it up as the Riddler in Batman Forever, he teams with Jeff Daniels to play bumblers who cross the country to return some stolen loot to its rightful owner. With Teri Garr and ex-MTV veejay Karen Duffy. (Rated PG-13; at Norwood, Turfway, Forest Fair and Biggs Place Eastgate.)
Kate (Ryan) has grand plans for fiance Charlie (Timothy Hutton) and herself a big house, children. Their future together looks bright until a trip to Paris changes eveiything. Charlie’s there; Kate’s not. When Charlie (Hutton) meets Juliette (Susan Anbeh), a beautiful Parisian, he jumps on the phone to tell Kate the big news; his life’s just beginning. As a couple, he and Kate are finished.
★ FORREST GUMP After raking in six Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor, our man Gump is playing strong at a theater nearby. (Rated PG-13; at Norwood, Turfway, Forest Fair, Biggs Place
MORE, PAGE 22
She won’t believe it. Overcoming her fear of flying, Kate’s off to Paris to win Charlie back. Along the way, she befriends French con artist Luc (Kevin Kline) and gets mixed up with a stolen diamond necklace. No problem whatever it takes, Ryan will triumph.
What’s a little girl to do? Pout. Scream. Cry. Stomp feet. When adults act this way, it’s stupid. When Ryan acts this way, it’s funny.
“You’re like a woman, but also like a little girl,” Luc tells Kate. With short shaggy hair and wearing boyish T-shirts, Ryan is all child. The woman is nowhere to be found. Good thing. French Kiss has no use for a woman’s maturity. Its laughs originate out of child’s play.
Watch Kate battle it out with an acerbic French concierge. See her panic inside a plane. She faints in hotel lobbies and falls onto a dessert cart. There are crying fits inside telephone booths. On a train, Kate becomes sick from eating too much cheese. Sounds sad? If this were happening to an adult, French Kiss would be sad. It’s funny because these setbacks are happening to a child. Heartbreak is an adult’s concern.
Children don’t buy it. Neither does Ryan. Will she get her fiance back? “Once he (Charlie) sees me,” Kate (Ryan) tells
Looking
through makes
Luc (Kline), Seeing labels who believes She’s Ryan’s fled grimaces. back and endlessly. across little-girl tantly, the camera, sparkles credit. Ryan, of baby not an Put shock gag list. The people anizers. water.
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advocate.
Meg Ryan needs no one’s permission to play the child-adult next to Kevin Kline’s con artist in French Kiss.
Eastgate and Westwood.)
★ FRIDAY Craig Jones (Ice Cube), faces one long and crazy Friday. Recently unemployed, Jones finds himself in the middle of girlfriend trouble and a shady deal with his pot-head friend Smokey (Chris Tucker).
Sassy dialogue, great characters and hilarious slapstick make for good comedy, plain and simple. Calling Friday an African-American comedy may put off moviegoers who think that if they are not up on the latest releases from Rap star Dr. Dre, then they won’t get the jokes. Wrong. Funny is funny, and Friday's crammed with more gags than any recent comedy. With John Witherspoon and Nia Long. (Rated R; at area Showcase Cinemas and Loews Northgate.)
THE GOOFY MOVIE Mickey's done them. Donald’s done them. Hey! Let’s give Goofy a shot at his own feature movie. Maybe, this movie will finally reveal one of Hollywood’s great mysteries: Is Goofy a human, a dog or both? (Rated G; at area Showcase Cinemas.)
HEAVYWEIGHTS In Heavyweights, Disney trots out a family comedy about overweight kids at a summer camp who face ridicule from their peers but eventually triumph. With Ben Stiller. (Rated PG; at Norwood, Turfway, Forest Fair and Biggs Place Eastgate.)
HOUSEGUEST Trying to ditch loan sharks at the airport, a con artist (Sinbad) passes himself off as a longlost friend to Gary Young (Phil Hartman). Let’s see if Sinbad’s street humor can survive in an antiseptic Disney environment. With Jeffrey Jones and Kim Greist. (Rated PG; at Norwood, Turfway, Forest Fair and Biggs Place Eastgate.)
I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT Acting legend Marcello Mastroianni returns in director Maria Luisa Bemberg’s tale about a mysterious stranger (Mastroianni) who brings love into the lives of a young female dwarf (Alejandra Podesta) and her overprotective mother (Luisina Brando). (Rated PG-13; closes Thursday at the Little Art Theatre, Yellow Springs.)
IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS In director John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness, investigator John Trent (Sam Neill) searches for missing author Sutter Cane (Jurgen Prochnow), whose best-selling horror books literally turn readers into monsters. In past films (Prince of Darkness, Halloween), Carpenter used less-clever material for a more frightening effect. Here, the terrible irony is that he wastes what might be the best idea for a horror film in some time. With Charlton Heston. (Rated R; closes Thursday at Norwood.)
JEFFERSON IN PARIS No one’s happy with Jefferson in Paris. Taking liberties with Thomas Jefferson’s (Nick Nolte) factual life for
dramatic reasons, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala’s screenplay is being panned by historians. Titillating audiences with subplots regarding an affair with a slave, Sally Hemings (Thandie Newton), producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory then step back as if embarrassed. Jefferson in Paris will bore any and all interested parties. (Rated PG-13; closes Thursday at the Esquire Theatre and Loews Kenwood Towne Centre.)
THE JUNGLE BOOK Disney s new adaptation of the Rudyard Kipling classic combines great photography of the Indian landscape and wildlife with a timeless story about a wild jungle boy named Mowgli (Jason Scott Lee). With Sam Neill. (Rated PG; at Forest Fair and Biggs Place Eastgate.)
JUST CAUSE Paul Armstrong (Sean Connery), a Harvard Law professor investigates the details of an 8year-old case in small southern Florida town. He encounters resistance from arresting officer Det. Tanny Brown (Larry Fishburne). Director Arne Glimcher leaves behind the romance of his debut effort, The Mambo Kings, and tackles author John Katzenbach’s best-selling thriller head-on. With Ed Harris and Kate Capshaw. (Rated R; at Norwood, Forest Fair and Biggs Place Eastgate; closes Thursday at Turfway.)
JURY DUTY Inspired by the O.J. trial, Hollywood finds another vehicle for its favorite low-budget comedy star, Pauly Shore. This time around, Shore plays Tommy Collins, an unemployed young man who finds his jury-duty gig to be the answer to his financial worries. With Tia Carrere. (Rated PG-13; at Eastgate and Erlanger; closes Thursday at Showcase Cincinnati and Springdale.)
★ KISS OF DEATH Actor David Caruso received a lot of flak for leaving the critically acclaimed TV drama NYPD Blue. With a tough, edgy performance that equals those from the best Hollywood tough-guys (Lancaster, Cagney, Robinson), Kiss of Death will shut up Caruso’s skeptics.
Based on the 1947 film of the same name, Kiss of Death follows Jimmy Kilmartin (Caruso) as he crosses paths with the law and the underworld to bring down a car-theft ring headed by gangster Little Junior (Nicolas Cage). With strong lead performances, great use of color and a scene-stealing turn by Stanley Tucci as a corrupt district attorney, Kiss of Death is the hands-down best studio release so far this year. With Samuel L. Jackson and Helen Hunt. (Rated R; at area Showcase Cinemas.)
★ LEGENDS OF THE FALL
Sharing an isolated existence on a large Montana ranch, Col. William Ludlow (Anthony Hopkins) and his three sons Alfred (Aidan Quinn), Tristan (Brad Pitt) and Samuel (Henry Thomas) experience some conflict when Samuel returns with his fiancee, Susannah (Julia Ormond). In Legends of the Fall, melodrama finally receives the Tiffany treatment that this genre rightfully deserves. With Karina Lombard and Gordon Tootoosis.
Head Lines
BY GARY GAFFNEY
(Rated R; at Norwood, Turfway, Forest Fair, Westwood and Biggs Place Eastgate.)
★ LITTLE WOMEN Leaving behind her persona as some Slackergeneration role model, Winona Ryder earned a Best Actress nomination for her portrayal of the tomboy Jo in this wonderful adaptation of the literary classic by director Gillian Armstrong (My Brilliant Career). Bringing this story alive with such visual flourish and care for her actresses, Armstrong’s film takes its place as a classic in its true right. With Susan Sarandon. (Rated PG; closes Thursday at Norwood and Turfway.)
★ THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE No longer in possession of his senses, his royal highness King George III (Nigel Hawthorne) faces a plot from disgruntled members of Parliament and his son, the Prince of Wales (Rupert Everett). A renowned stage director (Miss Saigon, Carousel), Nicholas Hytner uses the broader spaces of cinema to unfold playwright Alan Bennett’s story across magnificent locations. Chuck the Masterpiece Theatre perception out the window. With Ian Holm. (Unrated; closes Thursday at the Esquire Theatre.)
MIAMI RHAPSODY First time director David Frankel pays homage to Woody Allen in this comedy about a young woman (Sarah Jessica Parker) who’s about to get married. Witnessing her family’s infidelities, she questions the reality of commitment in today's world. Love and neuro
sis, all set in the Jewish community of Miami. With Antonio Banderas and Mia Farrow. (Rated PG-13; opens Friday at the Esquire Theatre.)
★ NOBODY’S FOOL An older man named Sully (Paul Newman), faces up to abandoning his family in a' small New England town. Based on the novel by Richard Russo, Nobody’s Fool offers Newman fantastic dialogue, touching scenes and a character worthy to his abilities. With Bruce Willis and Melanie Griffith. (Rated R; opens Friday at Norwood and Turfway.)
OUTBREAK Inspired by recent best-selling books such as The Hot Zone and The Coming Plague, arrives director Wolfgang Peterson’s (In the Line of Fire) Outbreak. Col. Sam Daniels, M.D. (Dustin Hoffman), an officer from the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases, investigates a “hot” virus that finds its way from an African village into America. Here, real-life drama becomes ruined by a blase, Hollywood action-chase ending. With Morgan Freeman and Donald Sutherland. (Rated R; at Showcase Springdale; closes Thursday at Cincinnati and Erlanger; opens Friday at Florence; opens Tuesday at the Little Art Theatre, Yellow Springs.)
THE PEBBLE AND THE PENGUIN
Not only does MGM’s The Pebble and the Penguin offer colorful animation, a story about love and friendship and an upbeat musical score, it also teaches a thing or two about the mating ritual of Adeli penguins. (Rated G; at Loews Florence.)
★ PRIEST Promising picketing and a nasty campaign, the Catholic vertently put the spotlight this much ado about really. Overcoming that looks like too British films, Priest isfying melodrama.
A young priest, Pilkington (Linus Roache), an inner-city Liverpool himself embroiled that places his vocation Controversy is what Bird’s first feature Too bad it’s misleading. more like a riveting than a piece of shock With Cathy Tyson. Esquire Theatre and Movies, Dayton.)
★ PULP FICTION Quentin Tarantino cult favorite to Academy home an Oscar for Screenplay. Pulp Fiction reflection of what America go round and racism. With (Rated R; at areaShowcase Cincinnati and Erlanger; at Covedale, Northgate County.)
★ RICHIE RICH in real life, Macaulay found his perfect Bros, unveils its first cartoon, a short titled in more than 30 years. Hyde and Edward at Forest Fair and Eastgate.)
★ ROB ROY Caton-Jones (This reaches into Scottish Rob Roy pulls out of cinemascope, Technicolor the trappings of modern moviemaking. In 1712 Scotland, MacGregor (Liam his family, his life, ly his honor. Rob Roy reminds heyday. But calling ioned is not accurate. belongs to the contemporary Neeson and actress With Tim Roth. (Rated Showcase
Burstyn. (Rated PG; Norwood, Turfway, Biggs Place Eastgate.)
THE SHAWSHANK Based on the Stephen story “Rita Hayworth Shawshank Redemption,” Frank Darabont inspires frightens with this
r THE CARL SOLWAY GALLERY IS PLEASED TO BE PARTICIPATING IN ART CHICAGO 1995 NAVY PIER MAY 11-16,1995
SPECIAL FRIENDSHIPS The Main Library’s Filmagic series gives children a look at relationships through two shorts, The Red Balloon and Golden Fish. (Unrated; 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Main Library, Downtown. 369-6922.)
★ UNION MAIDS Following three women who left their lives on the farm to seek work in 1930s Chicago, the documentary Union Maids received an Academy Award nomination upon its 1976 release. With commentary by professors James Klein of Wright State University and Andrea Kornbluh of Raymond Walters College. (Unrated; 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the New Neon Movies, Dayton.)
Just Being There
Toni Birckhead closing her gallery doors but plans to stay involved in area art scene
BY FRAN WATSON
The bad news is that one of the Cincinnati art scene’s most prominent movers and shakers is closing shop, as we know it. Toni Birckhead Gallery, a Fourth Street institution since 1979, is closing its doors June 2 at the end of its current show.
The good news is that Toni Birckhead will not be leaving Cincinnati. Because art and Birckhead have been interchangeable since the ’60s, it’s a pretty safe bet that arty aftershocks will be rumbling right on, possibly from O’Bryonville in the future. Fourth'Street just isn’t the art center it was a few years ago, when the monthly Friday openings spilled out into the street and crowds waited in line to see the latest offerings.
“I have to get off Fourth Street. The feeling is negative now,” Birckhead says. It’s impossible not to notice the empty store fronts, once tastefully displaying everything from antiques to Toni Birckhead’s specialty, very good regional art, along with an unbeatable opening act the best people-watching in town.
ARTISTS TO BE INCLUDED: V VITO ACCONCI, LAURIE ANDERSON, JOHN ARMLEDER, JAY BOLOTIN, JONATHAN BOROFSKY, JOHN CAGE, COOP-HIMMELBLAU, PAUL DEMARINIS, CHRISTIAN MARCLAY, JOEL OTTERSON, NAM JUNE PAIR, ALAN RATH, AMINAH ROBINSON, HAIM STEINBACH
While nearly every phase of Birckhead’s life has been connected with art, there was a stint in New York in 1978 with a travel business. “I was walking down the street one day and just felt this passion to get back into art,” she recalls. Carl Solway was leaving New York at that time to open his Fourth Street gallery. Following his lead, Birckhead returned to Cincinnati, rehabbed the old sweatshop near the west end of the block and began making history.
Her first shows were New York art, but it didn’t take long for Birckhead to
realize the quality of local art and the fact that it yielded bigger audiences and better reception.
While the gallery itself provided a crisp, uncluttered arena, it was just the tip of a big art-berg. Corporate collecting was providing the ’70s and ’80s with an aesthetic gold mine. And Birckhead moved right in with the right artists and some innate people skills.
“The economic situation was such that corporations wanted to give back to the community,” she explains, “and they felt the best way to do that was to support the local and regional artists.”
Federated Department Stores was the first to establish its own corporate collection featuring regional artists'. Other collections built at that time were Frost & Jacobs, Cincinnati Gas & Electric Co., Tipton Associates (which commissioned site-specific installations), Cincinnati Bell and Scripps Howard Inc. Birckhead particularly enjoyed working with Scripps Howard, which she described as “just wonderful to work with. They worked in and around their collection. They kept every piece of their collection, adding to it when they moved to new offices.
Thatjs what collecting is about. If you collect good art, you shouldn’t have to discard it like a used car.”
Right now, Birckhead is reassessing. In January, she resigned her position as gallery director with the Aronoff Center for the Arts, “because the energy just wasn’t there” for her, and describes herself as being in a holding pattern while
CONTINUES ON PAGE 30
PHOTO: TONY WALSH
Toni Birckhead is closing her gallery after the current show ends June 2.
Openings
ART ACADEMY OF CINCINNATI
A juried exhibition for students. Enquirer art and theater critic Jackie Demaline will be one of the judges. Opening ceremony begins at noon Friday, awards will be handed out at 2:45 p.m. Next to Cincinnati Art Museum, Eden Park. 562-8777.
CAFE ESPRESSO Paintings and mixed media by Deb Smith. Opening reception is 7-8 p.m. Tuesday. Through May 30. Borders Books and Music, 11711 Princeton Road, Springdale. 671-5852.
CARNEGIE ARTS CENTER The Way We Were is a regional retrospective, and Totally Transparent features an assortment of watercolors. Friday through May 27. 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; noon-4 p.m. Saturday. 1028 Scott Blvd., Covington. 491-2030.
★ CINCINNATI ART CLUB The American Watercolor Society Exhibition opens Friday. Reception is 1-5 p.m. Sunday. Through May 28. 9 a.m.5 p.m. weekdays; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday. 1021 Parkside Place, Mount Adams. 241-4591.
CLOSSON'S GALLERY DOWNTOWN This is the first Midwestern exhibition for Ray Ellis. Opening reception is 5-8 p.m. Thursday. Through June 24. 10 a.m.-8 p.m. weekdays; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday; noon-5 p.m. Sunday. 401 Race St., Downtown. 762-5510.
THE EAftTH'
r-SHiKn NOW AVAILABLE WIZARD’S WARDROBE
52.3 LINVVOOD AVE. IN Mf. LOOtOvT 321-1347 SE HABLA ESPANOL
★ HEBREW UNION COLLEGE
SKIRBALL MUSEUM Alice and Harris Weston’s collection of post-war art opens Tuesday. Through June 30. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 2-5 p.m. Sunday. 3101 Clifton Ave., Clifton. 221-1875.
★ HILLEL JEWISH STUDENT
CENTER Features prints based on the lives of women in Biblical and midrashic tales and a series of gouache illuminations by Pamela Feldman-Hill. Opening reception is 1-3 p.m. Sunday. Through June 12. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Friday. 2615 Clifton Ave., Clifton. 221-6728.
★ MALTON GALLERY Carol Henry focuses light through cibachrome paper to create images, and Karen Willenbrink creates sculptured glass. Opening is 7-9 p.m. Friday. Through May 30. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday. 2709 Observatory Ave., Hyde Park. 321-8614.
MILLER GALLERY The Passion of Dance spotlights recent oils, pastels and watercolors by Steve Childs. Opening reception is 5-7 p.m. Sunday and will benefit the Cincinnati Ballet. Through May 30. 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday. 2715 Erie Ave., Hyde Park. 871-4420.
MULLANE’S PARKSIDE CAFE
Bold Faces by Carolyn Jones opens Saturday. Through June 3. 723 Race St., Downtown. 381-1331.
TANGEMAN FINE ARTS
GALLERY Mezzotints by Mary Farrell, drawings by Randy Simons and paintings by Kenny Mencher. Monday through May 12. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays. UC Tangeman Student Center, Clifton. 556-2962.
WENTWORTH GALLERY At the Beach features the works of Hatfield, Dyer and McCaw. Tuesday through May 15. 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday; noon-7 p.m. Sunday. Kenwood Towne Centre, 7875 Montgomery Road, Kenwood. 791-5023.
22 W. Seventh St. #202 (Lancaster Building) Cincinnati
BABA BUDAN’S ESPRESSO BAR Drawings and paintings by Michael Reynolds. Through May 31. 7:30 a.m.-ll p.m. Monday-Thursday; 7:30 a.m.-l a.m. Friday; 10 a.m.-l a.m. Saturday; 10 a.m.-ll p.m. Sunday. 243 Calhoun St., Clifton. 221-1911.
BASE ART Juried exhibition. Noon-4 p.m. Saturdays and by appointment. 1311 Main St., Over-theRhine. 491-3865.
★ ART ACADEMY OF CINCINNATI Open invitational for students to use 8-inch circular wood panels to interpret the word “Fusion.” Through May 12. Exo Gallery. ...Senior Fine Art Exhibit. Through May 5. Chidlaw Gallery. 9 a.m.-lO p.m.
★ BEAR GRAPHICS AND ILLUSTRATION GALLERY The Art of the Car features original illustrated automotive art by Bob Woolf, David Skrzelowski, Steve Petrosky, Tom Osborne, Mike Brann, Russ Brandenburg and David Lord. Through May 31. Noon-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. 105 E. Main St., Mason. 398-2788.
Monday-Thursday; 9 a.m.-lO p.m. Friday; noon-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Next to Cincinnati Art Museum, Eden Park. 562-8777.
★ CAFE Z - A series of lithographs by April Foster are on display. Twentyfive percent of the proceeds go to AVOC (AIDS Volunteers of Cincinnati). Through May 31. 227 W. Ninth St., Downtown. 651-3287.
ARTERNATIVE GALLERY On display is Floriquaries: Sculpture and Mythologies by Edward Casagrande. Through May 31. 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
GOLDEN RAM GALLERY Original oil paintings by Nelle Ferrara. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday; 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Wednesday; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday. 6810 Miami Ave., Madeira.
HARROGATE Works are of maritime themes including 19th and 20th century paintings, ship models and artifacts. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday. 3075 Madison Road, Oakley. 321-6020.
★ IN SITU
★ C.A.G.E. Installation by Karen Wirth and Robert Lawrence of Minneapolis; mixed media painting by Patrick Donnelly of Louisville; and a video installation by Marya Roland of Normal, III. Through May 20. Noon-8 p.m. Friday; noon-6 p.m. Saturday; noon-4 p.m. Sunday. 1416 Main St., Over-the-Rhine. 381-2437.
Monday-Wednesday and Friday; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday; noon-5 p.m. Sunday. 2034 Madison Road, O'Bryonville. 871-2218.
ARTISTREE STUDIOS Offers an array of artwork and classes in a variety of media from artists around the Tristate. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Sunday. 6818 State Route 128, Miamitown. 353-2100.
★ CARL SOLWAY GALLERY Limbus: The Source of a Mechanical Opera is a portfolio of 65 woodcuts by Jay Bolotin, with hand-coloring, related paintings and drawings for the new opera. Through June 2. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday; Saturday by appointment. 424 Findlay St., West End. 621-0069.
ARTS CONSORTIUM OF CINCINNATI, UNION TERMINAL Art for City Walls is a yearlong exhibit focusing on local artists. Bein’ Round Natti Town, highlights the first 150 years of African-American presence in Cincinnati. 1-5 p.m. Wednesday-Friday; noon-5 p.m. weekends. Union Terminal, 1301 Western Ave., Queensgate. 241-7408.
★ CINCINNATI ART GALLERIES From the Lands of Puccini and Bizet highlights paintings by Carl J. Samson, an artist of the Boston School Tradition. Through May 31. Permanent exhibition includes works by Potthast, Weis and the Wessels and a fine collection of Rookwood pottery. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays; 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday. 635 Main St., Downtown. 381-2128.
★ IN SITU INSIDE Photographs, collection of gelatin silver prints by Margaret Silverman. The exhibit space is designed especially for photography, printmaking and drawing. Through May 20. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. 1435 Main St., Over-the-Rhine. 651-4613.
INNER SPACE DESIGN Currently showing works by James Brown, Robert Motherwell, Roy Lichtenstein, Ellsworth Kelley, Robert Rauschenberg, Louis Bourgeois, Donald Judd, Elizabeth Murray, Robert Indiana, Tom Nakashima and Louise Nevelson. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday. 2128 Madison Road, O’Bryonville. 533-0300.
JAMAR GALLERY Has closed its downtown shop and is currently looking for a new location. It will be located temporarily at 79 Locust Hill Road, Anderson Township. By appointment only. 752-1344.
★ KZF GALLERY Between Abstraction and Realism: Where to Draw the Line highlights sculpture, paintings and works on paper by three Cincinnati-area artists: Karen Heyl, Sheila E.
CINCINNATI ZOO Ecotoon: Our Endangered Planet is exhibition of editorial cartoons from 40 countries, first shown at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Through May 14. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. $7.50 adults, $4.50 children 2-12, $5.25 seniors; $4.50 parking. Cincinnati Zoo, second floor of the Thorn Tree gift shop, 3400 Vine St., Avondale. 281-4700.
ARTS CONSORTIUM OF CINCINNATI, LINN STREET
African-American Framed Reflections #1 features the work of local artist Thomas Phelps. Through May 31. Art for City Walls is a yearlong exhibit focusing on local artists. 1-8 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. weekends. 1515 Linn St., West End. 381-0645.
CLOSSON’S GALLERY DOWNTOWN Master Prints features lithographs by Hurley, Marsh and Meakin, among others; through May 20. Permanent collection includes works by Duveneck and Mosler.
ATTIC GALLERY 8 p.m.-midnight Thursday-Saturday; 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Sunday; or by appointment. Above the York Street International Cafe, Eighth and York streets, Newport. 261-9675. ¥ A N A K E
by Carol Griffith and Enrico Embroli, functional forms by Lynne Sweet and original works on paper by A. Hall. Through May 31. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday; or by appointment. Dixie
★ CLOSSON’S GALLERY KENWOOD Recent Paintings: Art of the Flower displays works by Melinda Bitting, the principle illustrator for a Fieldguide to the Birds of the Philippines. Through May 12. Also featuring the Kentucky Derby paintings of Velma Morris. Through May 30. 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Saturday. 7866 Montgomery Road, Kenwood. 891-5531.
★ COLLECTOR BOOK AND PRINT GALLERY Spotlights abstracts and Irish sketches by Cincinnati artist Reginald Grooms. Through June 30. There also is a special display of Stephen Birmingham's works. 3-6 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday; 1-5 p.m. Sunday. 1801 Chase Ave., Northside. 542-6600.
DIJOHN Paintings by Fran Watson and relief sculptures by Larry Watson. Through May 31. 724 Madison Ave., Covington. 581-5646.
FITTON CENTER FOR CREATIVE ARTS Quills by Paul McDade and constructions by Robert McWilliams. Reception is 2-4 p.m. Sunday. Through June 9. 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Thursday; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday; 9 a.m.-noon Saturday. 101 S. Monument Ave., Hamilton. 863-8873.
GALLERY 99 New works by members on Spirituality. Noon-6 p.m. Thursday-Sunday; noon-9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. 1101 St. Gregory St., Mount Adams. 651-1441.
GLASS CRAFTERS STAINED GLASS STUDIO Features stained and beveled glass miniatures, windows, lamps, mirrors and more. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays; 10 a.m.-3
MACHINE SHOP GALLERY Contract with Art: The First 270 Days is a group show featuring photography, drawings, paintings and installations by first-year fine art graduate students from the University of Cincinnati. Through May 26. 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. 100 E. Central Parkway, Over-the-Rhine. 556-1928. MASTERPIECE GALLERY AND FRAMING A Breath of Spring spotlights watercolors by Joan Hull Simons. Through May 19. 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday. 2944 Markbreit Ave., Oakley. 531-8280. MARTA HEWETT GALLERY Presents works by Robin Kraft. Through May 27. Also exhibits contemporary fine art and crafts, including glass,
and
and
artists. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; noon-5 p.m. Saturday. 1209 Main
by
Over-the-Rhine. 421-7883. MIAMI VALLEY COOPERATIVE GALLERY Works by Judith Bogumill-Thaxton, a follower of the Dada movement who wants to "resurrect humor in serious art.” Through June 30. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday. 19 E. Second St., Dayton, Ohio.
WOMAN'S ART CLUB OF CINCINNATI Pendleton Art Center, Room 501, 1310 Pendleton St., Over-the-Rhine. 522-0117.
WOODBOURNE GALLERY
Continues its “Cincinnati Artist of the Month" series with Fabric and Fiber, a showing of floral paintings by Sharon Kesterson Bollen, collages and landscapes by Renee Harris and pins and earrings by Susan Naylor. Through May 24. 10 a.m.-8 p.m.
ART GALLERIES Women: Rites of Passage runs through May 14. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; noon-5 p.m. weekends. Creative Art Center at Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio. 513-873-2978.
es the finest examples of ethnic dress and dolls; through Oct. 1. Romas Viesulas: Notes on Sound, series of 12 inkless reliefs by the late Romas Viesulas; through Oct. 8. $5 adults; $4 students and seniors; children free. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday. Eden Park. 721-5204. CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER Horizons features the work of Diane Samuels and in particular the formation of personal alphabets, including a Hebrew prayer/poem she “translated” into various languages; through May 28. David Humphrey: Paintings and Drawings, 1987-1994 is survey of the artist’s work; through June 18. In Bill Viola: Selected Works 1976-1989, the video artist presents a selection of videotapes exploring primal fears; through June 18. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday-Saturday. $2 adults; $1 students and seniors; children 12 and under free; free to CAC members; free to all on Mondays. 115 E. Fifth St., Downtown. 345-8400. DAYTON MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY The Wildlife Art of Robert Bateman spotlights more than 25 lithographs by the Canadian artist.
XAVIER UNIVERSITY GALLERY
Features fibers by Patricia Gallaghar and David Dietz and ceramics by Julie Reskamp. Through May 12. Noon-4 p.m. Monday-Friday. 3800 Victory Parkway, Evanston. 745-3811.
Museums
★ CINCINNATI ART MUSEUM
Rona Pondick, whose sculptures are composed of body parts or furniture associated with the body, features 11 of her sculptures and eight of her drawings in New Art 4; through July 16. Singing the Clay: Pueblo Pottery of the Southwest, Yesterday and Today features 111 examples of pottery from 12 pueblos; through June 4.
Also on display is Air in Motion, Heart in Motion, 14 prints by Shinoda Toko; through May 14. The Dawn of Engraving: Masterpieces from the 15th Century features many examples of late Gothic and early Renaissance engraving, including works by Mantegna and Durer; through July 23. Barnett and Chidlaw: The Art Academy of Cincinnati and Modernism features four paintings by Barnett and a recently acquired work by Chidlaw; through Sept. 4. All The World Arrayed, a salute to the 50th anniversary of the United Nations, showcas-
PAGE 26
Go Figure
n order to fulfill a college
requirement, I once took an ice skating class. I didn’t do too badly. I didn’t break anything.
I would have gotten an A if instead of holding out my hands, screaming and hitting the boards to stop I could have perfected the snow-plow maneuver. I got a B. Since then, my admiration has grown for anyone who makes the sport their career.
And it’s amazing how many athletes today are enjoying star status as figure skaters.
Until recently, American audiences would follow the sport only every four years during the Winter Olympics. Not anymore. Skaters endorse major product lines and star in prime-time television specials. The United States including Cincinnati is experiencing an all-out love affair with figure skating.
The Campbell’s Soups 1995 Tour of World Figure Skating Champions visits Riverfront Coliseum Sunday with 32 of the sport’s reigning champions, including Oksana Bayul, Nancy Kerrigan, Viktor Petrenko, Brian Boitano and Elvis Stojko. This comes just two months after a tour sponsored by Discover Card played the Coliseum with Katarina Witt, Scott Hamilton and others, drawing a crowd of 11,577.
A recent survey published by Ms. magazine indicated that figure skating is the third most-watched sport on U.S. televisions behind professional football and college football.
So why has the sport become so popular here and around the country?
First of all, as Kate Rounds wrote in a story accompanying the Ms. survey, figure skating “straddles the line between art and athletics.” Where else can you experience the grace of a Kerrigan or a Bayul with the athletic jumping and sometimes tumbling ability of Surya Bonaly?
The TV viewing audience for figure skating is 65 percent women a marketing dream. “It is a women’s sport, rim by women and watched by women,” Rounds said. “Women have the highest marquee value and get the most endorsements.”
Case m point is Kerrigan. Before even stepping pn the ice at the Lillehammer Olympic Games in 1994, she was signed to endorse Campbell’s Soups, Reebok, Ray Ban, Seiko, Evian Water, Revlon and Walt Disney. In the world of endorsements, an Olympic gold medal can be worth $2 million for an American skater.
Speaking of Kerrigan, her episode with Tonya Harding and the gang who couldn’t shoot straight certainly didn’t hurt the sport’s popularity. The telecast of the women’s figure skating finals in Lillehammer, where Kerrigan won the silver medal, was listed by Nielsen Media Research as the sixth most-watched event in U.S. television history bested only by the final episode of M*A*S*H, the “Who Shot J.R.” episode of Dallas, part 8 of Roots and a couple of Super Bowls.
The spectacular ratings caused TV network executives to sit up and take notice. CBS recently aired a prime-time Kerrigan special called Dreams on Ice. Fox aired Rock and Roll on Ice, in which a gigolo-inspired routine by Hamilton “won” by audience vote over a rock and roll routine by Petrenko. In February NBC aired
Skates of Gold featuring former Olympic gold medalists. ABC plans extensive coverage of the 1996 World Figure Skating Championships.
Cincinnati audiences have followed figure skating in earnest since 1987, when Riverfront Coliseum hosted the World Championships. Every session was sold out, and the finals were broadcast nationwide and around the world. Resulting tours have,generally drawn well here.
“Television has had a lot to do with skating’s popularity,” says Coliseum publicity director Julia Westendorf. “And the tours are popular because in (Olympic) competition everything is so stern. Here the skaters can do more of their own choreography. Their routines are a reflection of the skater, more of an expression.”
In addition to Olympic champions, Sunday’s performance will feature rising stars such as Michelle Kwan, Nicole Bobek, Todd Eldredge, Philippe Candeloro, Scott Davis and Lu Chen as well as many of the world’s best pairs and dance teams.
So what’s the deep-down reason audiences flock to see these ,stars on ice? It’s easy. For the price of a ticket, you see first-hand the sport’s magical performers transport you to a place where elegance reigns even if you haven’t mastered stopping.
The 1995 TOUR OF WORLD FIGURE SKATING CHAMPIONS slides into Riverfront Coliseum at 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $30-$45. 721-1000.
$3 adults; $1 seniors and students; children 12 and under free. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday; 1-5 p.m. Sunday. 316 Pike St., Downtown. 241-0343.
Theater
FOREST VIEW GARDENS Eat, drink and enjoy the sounds of your servers singing selections from Les Miserables. Through May 28. Reservations required. Thursday-Sunday. 4508 North Bend Road, Monfort Heights. 661-6434.
★ JOHN BODY PLAYERS Presents their final Cincinnati production, Slattern, a rockumentary inspired by the deaths of Ian Curtis, Kurt Cobain and Marvin Gaye written by R.W. Hessler with music by Slattern. 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Through May 13. $4. C.A.G.E., 1416 Main St., Over-the-Rhine. There will be a special performance. 10 p.m. Thursday at Sudsy Malone's in Corryville. 684-0774.
MIAMI VALLEY DINNER THEATRE Presents Forever Plaid. Through June 18. $26.95-$34.95. Route 73, Springboro. 513-746-4554.
SCHOOL FOR CREATIVE AND PERFORMING ARTS Fourth, fifth and sixth graders present Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book 9 a.m. and noon Thursday, 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Black Box Theatre, 1310 Sycamore St., Over-theRhine. 632-5910.
★ SHOWBOAT MAJESTIC Tim Perrino directs The Wizard of Oz, the opening show of the Showboat's 1995 season. 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday. $11 adults; $10 students and seniors; group rates also are available. Public Landing, Downtown. 241-6550.
CHILDREN’S THEATRE Pamela Myers and Gregory Procaccino star in Melanie Marnich’s adaptation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. COM graduate Alice Porte plays the title role. 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 3 p.m. Sunday. $5. Taft Theatre, Fifth and Sycamore, Downtown. 569-8080.
★ CINCINNATI PLAYHOUSE IN THE PARK Contemporary special effects update the original stage version of Dracula, written by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderson. 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 5 and 9 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday.
Classical Music
ATHENAEUM CHORALE Presents solo recital by soprano Mary Bellman in a program of English and French works. 3 p.m. Sunday. Free. Athenaeum of Ohio/Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary, 6616 Beechmont Avenue, Mt. Washington. 231-2223.
CINCINNATI OPERA OUTREACH The Arts and Humanities Resources Center for the Elderly presents “Famous Lyricists of the American Theater,” with a tribute to Alan Lerner. Monday at Seasons, 7300 Dearwester Drive, Kenwood, and Wednesday at Archbishop Leibold’s Home, 476 Riddle Road, Clifton. Programs begin at 1:30 p.m. Free, but tickets should be picked up in advance. 369-4474.
CINCINNATI POPS ORCHESTRA Keith Lockhart leads the orchestra as they perform A Little Bit of Country with special guests Danny Davis and the Grammy-winning ensemble Nashville Brass. 8 p.m. Sunday. $12-$35. Music Hall, 1241 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine. 381-3300.
★ CINCINNATI SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Jesus L6pez-Cobos conducts the finale of the CSO’s centennial season as they perform Heitor Villa Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras No. 8. 7:30 p.m. Thursday. 13-year-old violin virtuoso Sarah Chang joins
TRI-COUNTY PLAYERS Present Isn’t It Romantic? 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. $7. College Hill Town Hall, 1805 Larch Ave., College Hill. 825-0094.
VILLAGE PUPPET THEATRE Charles Killian presents The Dream of Prince Shiraz, a play from Indian folklore and mythology. Through May 28. 4:30 and 7 p.m. Friday; 12:30, 2:30 and 4:30 p.m. Saturday; and 12:30 and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. $5.25. Special showings and prices available for groups of 15 or more. 606 Main St., Covington. 291-5566 or through Select-A-Seat at 721-1000.
Through May 21. Audience members can interact with the cast and members of the production and design staff during Meet The Artists, after the Sunday matinee. Attendance at that show is not required. $19-$31; pre-show buffet dinner is $18. Robert S. Marx Theatre. Tickets to regular performances are half-price when purchased noon-2 p.m. the day of the show. Eden Park. 421-3888.
FOOTLIGHTERS Presents Pump Boys and Dinettes 8 p.m. ThursdaySaturday and 7 p.m. Sunday. Through May 13. $10. Stained Glass Theatre, Eighth and York streets, Newport. 793-1435
Comedy
XAVIER MUSKETEERS College
baseball vs. Wright State, noon Saturday and Sunday. Hayden Field, Xavier campus, Evanston. $4 adults, $2 students. 749-4949.
Recreational
AMERICAN WALKERS ASSOCI-
ATION The Cincinnati chapter has hikes each weekend. John Bryan State Park, Route 370, Yellow Springs, 9:30 a.m. Sunday. 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Spring Grove Cemetery, 4521 Spring Grove Ave., Winton Place. 561-3799.
CINCINNATI RECREATION COMMISSION For the latest in CRC programs and events, call 684-4945.
CINCINNATI MARLIN MASTERS
Coached swim workouts for all abilities Monday-Thursday evenings and noon Sundays. Keating Natatorium, St. Xavier High School, 600 North Bend Road, Finneytown. Chris Gilligan, 232-0382.
★ CINCINNATI WHEELCHAIR
GAMES Registration for athletes is open up until the day of competition, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday. Free. Sycamore High School, 7400 Cornell Road, Sycamore Township. 352-4013.
Featuring
CHILI CENTURY BICYCLES
RIDE Cincinnati Cycle club presents the 27-104 mile bicycle ride. $17. Information: 791-7190.
CLUB-FITTING SESSIONS PGA golf professionals will conduct free club-fitting sessions 2-4 p.m. Sunday throughout the golf season. Meadow Links & Golf Academy, West Sharon and Mill roads, Forest Park. 825-3701.
SDAY LONG HIKE The 6-mile walk will explore some of Caesar Creek State Park's more remote areas. Pack lunch. 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Saturday. 8570 East State Route 73, Waynesville. 513-897-2437.
No Experience Required
INTERVIEW BY BILLIE JEYES
andra Haldeman Martz founded Papier-Mache Press in 1984. Before that, she spent more than 20 years in Southern California working her way up the corporate ladder to a management position at TRW, the aerospace defense contractor.
“In my forties,” she says, “I began to think, ‘Is that all there is?’”
FIGURE SKATING CLUB OF CINCINNATI Meets 6:10-8 p.m. every Wednesday. Northland Ice Center, 10400 Reading Road, Evendale. $6.50 guest fee. 12:30-2:30 p.m. Sunday. Iceland's Sports Center, 10765 Reading Road, Evendale. $7. 779-1090.
Her first book was an anthology about women in sports. Since then, she has edited a series of best-selling anthologies, including When I Am An Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple and IfI Had My Life to Live Over I Would Pick More Daisies.
★ MAX'S SAND VOLLEYBALL 6:30-9:30 p.m. Monday. People interested in signing up for sixes, quads, triples and doubles leagues should call. 2135 Stapleton Court, Forest Park. 576-1381.
MORE, PAGE 28
“When I published When I Am an Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple in 1987, it was so well-received, I thought, instead of putting all my energy in the corporation, I could put it in the publishing company.” She quit the corporation. What had started out as a hobby had soon turned itself into a full-time job, one she thoroughly enjoys.
“I like that independence,” Martz says, “not having to answer to anyone.”
In 1991, Martz hired a staff. “As of a month ago,” she says proudly, “we hired our 19th person.”
Her latest collection, I Am The Woman I’ve Always Wanted, is an anthology of short stories, poems and photographs exploring women’s feelings toward their bodies.
The result is a refreshingly honest perspective on a subject that was long ago appropriated by men.
Some of the highlights include Carol Newman’s “Butchering Time,” an unforgettable tale of a young girl who, after her mother’s death, is forced to assume her
Writers’ notebook
Yet another independent bookstore closes: Book Stop Too, an independent Deer Park bookstore that sold new and used books, has become another casualty in the bookstore wars.
Owner Erma Neiheisel cites the number of bookstores in her area Barnes & Noble, Half Price Books, The Book Rack, Brentano’s, Waldenbooks, WaldenKids as the main reason behind her decision to close.
“You just can’t compete,” she explains. “If I had the cash flow, I could offer a much bigger selection.”
The store, located at 4122 Galbraith Road, would have celebrated its fifth anniversary July 1.
The devolution of baseball: Robert Grant grew up in Long Island rooting for the Mets. He moved to Cincinnati in the late ’70s when he got a job with Procter & Gamble, just in time to see the Big Red Machine “clobber my Yankees.”
Grant, who now lives in Carmel, Ind., has just written The December Rose, a fanciful novel about the Cincinnati Reds, in which he uses two wildly different protagonists to explore the difference between the game of yesterday and the business of today.
The 44-year-old writer is a baseball purist. He dis-
duties; Kathy M. Parkman’s “Everything That Falls Has Wings,” told from the perspective of an anorexic; and Maggi Ann Grace’s “Her Hair,” about a woman’s struggle to accept her sister’s decision to forgo chemotherapy.
Martz admits that she is very much drawn to women’s writing. “The women are willing to share so much of themselves, to be so intimate, no holds barred. I think women look at the whole person more. There are always those exceptions. I think men tend to deal with the intellectual side of things, as an observer.”
Unlike many publishers, Martz actively searches for undiscovered talent.
“One of the nice things about a collection is that the writers don’t have to have been writing long enough to amass a whole book,” she says. “It’s a good place for new writers. If a writer has some of the magic, we will even work with them on the messiness grammar, dialogue. New writers are writing more specifically for their own voice, not concerned with pleasing an audience. I like the fact that our writers don’t all come from major metropolitan areas but from all parts of the country.”
To solicit material for the anthologies, Martz advertises in Poets and Writers (formerly Coda). “It’s a very good magazine for writers, with very good articles about being a writer, and interviews with well-known and not so well-known writers,” she says.
Martz is currently working on a new project, a book about aging. So far, she has received 7,000 submissions. SANDRA
likes baseball’s modern trappings artificial turf, giant exploding scoreboards, designated hitters, which he refers to as “the media invasion.”
“There are a number of aspects around the game that have changed,” Grant says. “Management has forgotten that the game is the main attraction. The Ken Burns series [on PBS] showed that baseball was always able to withstand problems over the 120-year history because it was such a dominant sport. Baseball is no longer the dominant game in America. Now, it is more difficult to maintain its stature.”
lection has just won an
Book Award.
“The game is at a less than optimal stage for expansion,” he continues. “It dilutes the talent pool and diminishes its supply.”
Unlike many fans, whose enthusiasm for the game has been dampened by the strike, Grant will attend baseball games this summer.
“I will go to games because I do love the sport. I don’t think we should punish the sport because of the owners and players.”
ROBERT GRANT will sign copies of The December Rose 2-3:30 p.m. Saturday at Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Rookwood Pavilion, Madison and Edwards roads, Norwood. 396-8960.
1356 Fort Thomas Ave., Fort Thomas. 781-0602.
Sports
NATALIE BABBIT The children's author visits the Anderson Regional Branch Library 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. 7480 State Road. She will also visit the Delhi Hills Branch Library 3:30 p.m. May 11. 5095 Foley Road. 3696960.
MONTGOMERY DERBY RUN
Registration for the 10K run/walk and 5K run begins 8:15 a.m. Sunday, the run/walk at 9 a.m. $10. Montgomery City Hall, Montgomery Road and Schoolhouse Lane. 321-3006.
ROGER BOLLEN AND MARILYN SADLER The children’s authors visit the Bond Hill Branch Library 3:30 p.m. Monday. 1703 Dale Road. They will also be at the Symmes Township Regional Branch Library 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. 11850 Enyart Road. 369-6960.
OVER-THE-LINE SOFTBALL
LEAGUES Season begins Friday. The cost is $60 per team. 521-PARK.
STEVEN DAWIDOWITZ Racing columnist for the Houston Post and author of Betting Thoroughbreds discusses the mathematics of proof betting 7:30-9 p.m. Wednesday. Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Rookwood Pavilion, Madison and Edwards roads, Norwood. 396-8960.
★ THE SAND COURTS A free instructional clinic on advanced skills in volleyball will be offered 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Sunday and is open to the public. Knights of Columbus sports facility, 3144 Blue Rock Road, Colerain Township. People interested in entering their teams should call 385-0240.
TRISET DEFONSEKA The author of Easy Cooking With Herbs and Spices brings samples and signs her book 1 p.m. Saturday. Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Rookwood Pavilion, Madison and Edwards roads, Norwood. 396-8960.
GWENDOLIN GOLDSBY GRANT The advice columnist for Essence magazine and author of The Best Kind of Loving signs and reads from her new book 7-8:30 p.m. Friday.
★ TOUR DE WEDNESDAY Tour de Wednesday is a joint Sierra Club/Cincinnati Cyclery Club activity for intermediate bicyclists. 9:30 a.m. every Wednesday. 752-9639.
Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Rookwood Pavilion, Madison and Edwards roads, Norwood. 396-8960.
1995 CINCINNATI CORPORATE
CHAMPIONSHIPS 5K race at 9 a.m. Saturday. Sharon Woods, U.S. 42, Sharonville. 281-0002.
4TH ANNUAL DOG JOG
★ ROBERT GRANT The author of The December Rose, a novel set in Cincinnati that merges science and major league baseball, autographs his book 2-3:30 p.m. Saturday.
Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Rookwood Pavilion, Madison and Edwards roads, Norwood. 396-8960.
Registration for the Clermont County Humane Society’s run/walk begins 7:30 a.m. Sunday, the event at 9 a.m. $9. East Fork State Park. 474-1399.
★ MICHAEL GREENBERG Music critic and journalist at the San Antonio Express-News, discusses The Dance of the Streets: Rhythm in Architecture. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Free unless taken for academic credit. Museum Center at Union Terminal, 1301 Western Ave., Queensgate. 287-7093.
Madison and Edwards roads, Norwood. 396-8960.
J. KEVIN WOLFE The author of The Fat-Free Real Food Cookbook brings food samples and autographs his book 1-3 p.m. Sunday. Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Rookwood Pavilion, Madison and Edwards roads, Norwood. 396-8960.
ELAINE MARIE ALPHIE The author of the children’s book Tournament of Time visits the Fort Thomas Blue Marble 4-5 p.m. Friday.
★ DAVID LEHMAN POETRY READING —The author of Signs of the Times: Deconstruction and the Fall of Paul de Man and the series editor, since 1988, of Best American Poetry, reads from his work 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. 402 Tangeman University Center, UC Campus, Clifton. 556-1570.
★ SANDRA MARTZ The editor of When I Am an Old Woman Shall Wear Purple and Am Becoming the Woman I've Wanted visits the Crazy Ladies Book Store 7 p.m. Tuesday. 4041 Hamilton Ave., Northside. 541-4198. She also appears 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Borders Books and Music, 11711 Princeton Road, Springdale. 671-5852.
★ JILL MATTHEWS Matthews, who is currently stripping at the Centerfold Lounge in Newport, signs her novel, Cocktails and Cigarettes, 3-6 p.m. Saturday. Pink Pyramid, 36 W. Court St., Downtown. 621-PINK.
★ TRICIA ROSE The author of Black Noise presents a lecture 3 p.m. Friday. Free. Sander Hall, UC campus, Clifton. 556-0268.
ROGER B. SWAIN Host of PBS’ The Victory Garden and author of The Practical Gardener gives a talk titled “Listen to the Heartbeat of the Garden" 1 p.m. Saturday. Free with zoo admission. The Plant Shop, Cincinnati Zoo, 3400 Vine St., Avondale. 281M701.
THE TOPAZ MAN AND PATRICIA RICE Coverboy heartthrob Steve Sandalis and the author of The Texas Lily make a stop in Cincinnati on their way to The Kentucky Derby. 7-8:30 p.m. Thursday. Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Rookwood Pavilion,
ALBERT HANDELL The author of Oil Painting Workshop and Pastel Painting Workshop conducts a week-long seminar May 8-12. $315; $325 non-members. Middletown Fine Arts Center, 130 N. Verity Parkway, Middlwtown. 424-2416. WILL HILLENBRAND AND MICHAEL ROSEN The award winning illustrator and author will conduct workshop for anyone who has ever considered writing a children's book 9:30 a.m.-noon Saturday. $55. Rosen will conduct a private review of material for $50. Room 204, Art Academy of Cincinnati, Eden Park. Call Beth Thomas at 562-8748.
AMERICAN MUSEUM OF BREWING HISTORY AND ARTS
Houses the largest display of brewing and beer artifacts in the world. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. $4 adult tour and tasting; $3 adult tour only; $2 beer tasting only; under 12 free. Oldenberg Complex, Interstate 75 at Buttermilk Pike, Fort Mitchell. 341-2802.
BB RIVERBOATS Lunch, dinner, sightseeing cruises. Cruises depart from BB Riverboats’ base at Covington Landing. $4.50-$27.95. 261-8500.
BEHRINGER-CRAWFORD MUSEUM Housed within the historic Devou family home, it is the only museum of Northern Kentucky natural and cultural heritage. On display is the Harlan Hubbard Collection, donated by Hubbard in 1985. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 1-5 p.m. weekends. $2 adults; $1 students and seniors. Devou Park, Covington. 491-4003.
BENNINGHOFFERN HOUSE -
This restored Victorian mansion, built in 1861, provides the setting for the Butler County Historical Museum. 1-4 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. $1 adults; free children 12 and under. 327 N. Second St., German Village, Hamilton. 513-893-7111.
been restored to its appearance during the years Taft lived here as child and young adult, and serves as the only memorial to the nation’s 27th president and 10th chief justice. Free. 2038 Auburn Ave., Mount Auburn. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. daily. Closed Mondays. 684-3262.
Suburban Torture
BY JULIE LARSON
Classes & Exhibits
C.I.C. PERCUSSIONS - Offers Djembe, Shekere and Conga classes for adults and a Nigerian drum and dance class for children. The Miller Gardette Loft, 2401 Concord, Walnut Hills. 221-2222.
CINCINNATI ARGENTINE TANGO SOCIETY Offers dance classes in authentic Argentine tango 8 p.m. every Thursday. $40; $60 non-members; pro-rated. May 4-June 22. University YMCA, 270 Calhoun, Clifton. 579-4887.
CINCINNATI INTERNATIONAL FOLK DANCERS Meets every Monday at 8:30-11 p.m. $1.50; $3 non-members. University YMCA, 270 Calhoun, Clifton. 631-8830.
CINCINNATI NATURE CENTER Professional photographer John Gilmore conducts a photography workshop 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday. 4949 Tealtown Road, Milford. 831-1711.
CIVIC GARDEN CENTER OF CINCINNATI The horticultural center has served the Greater Cincinnati gardening community for over 50 years and offers outreach programs and classes. Spring Is for the Birds teaches you how to create a decorative nest 10 a.m.-noon Wednesday and 7-9 p.m. May 11. 2715 Reading Road, Clifton. 221-0981.
CONTEMPORARY DANCE THEATER Offers classes in tap, jazz, ballet, modern dance, African dance, creative movement for children and yoga. The Dance Hall, Vine Street and East Daniels, Corryville. 751-2800. FLYING CLOUD ACADEMY OF VINTAGE DANCE Offers classes in 19th and 20th century social dance 8 p.m. Wednesdays. $3 members; $5 non-members. University YMCA, 270 Calhoun, Clifton. 351-7462 or 733-3077.
GROWTH IN MOTION Fanchon Shur is offering a series of five Authenticity-In-Motion classes. 6:30-8 p.m. Tuesdays through May 30; 10-11:30 a.m. Wednesdays through May 31. $15 per class. 4019 Red Bud Ave., North Avondale. 221-3222.
MODELING WORKSHOP Learn how the modeling and talent industry works, 7:30-9 p.m. Tuesday. Reservations required. 2141 Gilbert Ave., Walnut Hills. 281-8030.
NATIONAL EVANGELISTIC ASSOCIATION The regional workshop meets Monday through May 11. Drawbridge Estate, 1-75 and Buttermilk Pike, Fort Mitchell. 341-2899.
UC INTERNATIONAL FOLK DANCERS The group meets 8:15-11 p.m. Saturdays. $2; $4
non-members. University YMCA, 270 Calhoun, Clifton. 631-8830.
THE WELLNESS COMMUNITY -
The free support network for people fighting cancer is looking for volunteers. A workshop for patients and their support persons is offered 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Saturday. 8044 Montgomery Road, Suite 385, Kenwood. 791-4060.
Groups & Programs
AIDS VOLUNTEERS OF CINCINNATI An estimated 1 million Americans are infecte'd with HIV. AVOC offers support groups for persons living with HIV, as well as their families, friends and loved ones. All services are free and confidential. 2183 Central Parkway, West End. 421-2437.
CAFE MATIN Vous etes invites 3 nous rejoindre tous les samedis au cate Baba Budan & partir de 11 heures. Bienvenue aux etudiants, professeurs et connaisseurs de la langue frangaise. Baba Budan’s Espresso Bar, 243 Calhoun, Clifton. 221-8952 or 556-7474.
THE CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT LIVING OPTIONS An agency that works with people with disabilities to achieve goals of independence. 632 Vine St., Suite 601, Downtown. 241-2600.
CLIFTON COUNSELING CENTER Serves the gay, lesbian and bisexual communities with support and therapy groups. “Flesh and Spirit Gatherings” designed for gay/bisexual men integrating sexuality and spirituality and meet at 7 p.m. on the fourth Sunday of every month. $20. 411 Oak St., Clifton. 221-2299.
PARENTS WITH HEARING IMPAIRED CHILDREN SUPPORT GROUP Meets at 6:45 p.m. every third Thursday of the month. Cincinnati Bible College, Room 251, 2700 Glenway Ave., Price Hill. 541-9073.
PEOPLE EXCHANGING POWER
The national support group for those interested in S&M, B&D and fetishes in safe, sane and consensual environment; meets Sundays. 881-2873.
TWIN TOWERS Meets every Thursday at 8 p.m. Thursday’s topic is Generation X. $3. 42 Calhoun, Clifton. 681-5026.
UNITED WAY HELPLINE Provides counseling, support-group information, crisis intervention and assistance 24 hours a day. 721-7900.
UNITED WAY VOLUNTEER RESOURCE CENTER Matches individuals and groups interested in
volunteering with volunteer opportunities throughout Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. 762-7171.
WOMEN ADVOCATES FOR DIVORCE EDUCATION (WADE) The workshop “Your Kids Can Survive: Helping Mothers and Children Through Divorce” is for mothers only. $6. 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Saturday. Columbia Center, 3500 Columbia Parkway, Mount Lookout. 665-6835.
YWCA PROTECTION FROM ABUSE PROGRAMS Alice Paul House and House of Peace are emergency shelters providing housing, advocacy and support to battered women and their children. 241-2757.
Auditions & Opportunities
APPALACHIAN FESTIVAL May 12-14 festival at Coney Island, which celebrates the area’s rich tain heritage with down-home entertainment, crafts,
Tower, 441 Vine St., Downtown. 744-8820.
ARTS IN COMMON This
rative program between Hamilton’s Fitton Center for Creative Arts and surrounding community offers minigrants for qualifying arts projects, defined as a new or existing program designed to educate, enlighten
To arrange for pickup of larger items, call 721-5204, Ext. 303.
GREATER CINCINNATI FOUNDATION Invites proposals from profit organizations for children
BIRCKHEAD: FROM PAGE 23
Etc.
she looks for another challenge one which, rest assured, will be in art somehow.
CENTER FOR PSYCHOTHERAPY
The woman-to-woman workshop continues with “Mothers and Daughters” 7-10 p.m. May 15. 4156 Crossgate Drive, Blue Ash. 791-7022.
“I can’t quit cold turkey.” Her involvement with art, which has enriched the lives of Cincinnatians, has been a labor of love. “Art,” she believes, “is the soul of humanity,” even if it means losing money or bucking opinions, both of which have been recurring elements of her gallery life. “I have a good gut,” she says. “When my gut tells me to do something, it’s right.”
GREATER CINCINNATI CALLIGRAPHERS GUILD Brush-lettering artist Carl Rohrs conducts a workshop 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. June 3-4. MacCallister’s Art Shop, 300 Salem Ave., Dayton, Ohio. 931-6926.
Trusting her instincts
Art
EZ KATT STUDIO/GALLERY
Artist Liz Zorn invites the public to the opening of her new gallery. On display will be new paintings in oil and acrylic, decorative clocks and mirrors.
Noon-8 p.m. May 13. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, weekdays by appointment. 416 Pike St., Morrow. 899-4463.
Onstage
GO BANANAS Headliners include Vince Morris and Bill Piper May 17-21; Rick Tempesta and Dave May May 24-28; Jeff Shaw and Mike Ward May 31-June 4; David Kaye and Rob Paulette June 7-11; Jim Higgins and John McClellan June 14-18; Dennis Piper and Mary Beth Murphy June 21-25; and Michael Flannery and John Hope June 28-July 2. 8:30 and 10:45 p.m. Friday-Saturday;
NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY SUMMER DINNER THEATRE You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown runs June 22—July 1; Play It Again Sam runs July 7-15; and Romance Romance runs July 20-29. Dinner begins at 6:30 p.m., the show at 8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. On Sunday, dinner begins at 5 p.m. for a 6:30 p.m. show. $7 adults; $6 NKU faculty; $5 NKU students. Black Box Theatre, Fine Arts Building, Highland Heights. 572-5433.
Events
Birckhead’s gut is saying pretty concrete things about staying in art, as a consultant, much to the relief of the artists who have shown at her gallery over the years. Some of these artists have been with her for almost the entire life of the gallery without contracts. According to her good right hand, Dennis Harrington, they found they really didn’t need contracts, and the artists really didn’t want them. The business has operated successfully for 17 years on verbal agreements formulated with common sense.
FIFTH THIRD BANK ART ON THE SQUARE Cincinnati’s second annual salute to the visual arts will be held May 19-21 on and around Fountain Square Downtown. $5. A special "Sneak Peek” look at the festival exhibits, sponsored by CityBeat, will be offered 11 a.m.-2 p.m. May 19 on Fountain Square. 744-8820.
It’s not possible to reach every artist who has benefited from showing at the Toni Birckhead Gallery, however, a few personal impressions seem necessary.
Deborah Morrissey McGoff plans to continue with Birckhead in the consultant venue. She describes the gallery when she had her first show in 1988 as “the only gallery in town showing top-notch, quality work.”
Literary
“Every artist with her wanted to be there,” McGoff says. “We knew we could count on Toni to be up-front, honest and pay on time.”
★ NATALIE HALE The author of The Little Star's Journey: A Fairytale for Survivors of All Kinds of Abuse visits the Crazy Ladies Book Store 7 p.m. May 11. 4041 Hamilton Ave., Northside. 541-4198.
Says Stuart Fink, sculptor and longtime associate of Birckhead, “She’s a real good, trusted friend to the contemporary artist, as well as to the client, I would suspect.” Fink says he also has no intention of leaving her in whatever art connection she plans.
★ THIS: A SERIAL REVIEW Celebrates the release of the new issue with a promotional poetry reading 12:30 p.m. May 11. UC Bookstore, UC campus, Clifton. There will be a reading and wine-tasting at 7:30 p.m. May 11 at Mushroom Wine Shop, 942 Hatch St., Mount Adams. 528-7726.
Tom Levine was Birckhead’s first regional artist in
1980, following with two additional shows, the last one in 1992.
“She’s the greatest thing since sliced bread,” says Levine, now based in New York. “She is spectacular and I adore her.”
To illustrate her respect for her artists’ wishes, Levine tells of a portfolio of 44 etchings, which he did not want sold individually; sales were to be in complete sets or not at all. Predictably, there were no sales during the show, which Birckhead may have foreseen, but she never questioned Levine’s artistic preference. That portfolio has since been acquired by the New York City Public Library, among many other prestigious collections. “She believed in her artists,” he says.
Years of involvement
Serving the cause of art has been a part of Birckhead’s life since her teens. She has been artist, volunteer, committee member, board member and all-round organizer, serving as the first coordinator of the docent program at the Cincinnati Art Museum. Her intuition may have recommended she leave the Aronoff Center gallery, but it demanded she continue with her work for AIDS awareness, her input on the Ohio Arts Council plans for an art-exchange program with Mexico, her work with the Art Academy of Cincinnati and as co-chair on the Smaller Arts Review Committee.
She’s anxious to begin her “next life,” one which will surely be built upon her “gallery life” of great moments and great people, like her two very appreciated gallery assistants, Harrington and Suzanne Kokoefer. Yet, she can think of no single stroke of magic she’s been able to contribute to the careers of her artists.
Members of the non-profit ofganization established by the Loyal Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma will be on hand to introduce What's Cookin’ in Indian Country 2-4 p.m. May 13. Natural History Museum’s Collector’s Shop, 1301 Western Ave., Queensgate. 287-7022.
874-3221.
psychic TALK TO A LIVE PSYCHIC! Learn about your future... Money, romance, happiness, career. Get individual consultation. 1-900-420-2444 ext. 070. 18 years and older. $2.99/minute. 24 hours, touch tone required. Avalon Comm., 305-525-0800.
PSYCHIC READINGS & MORE Experience the energy! Victory Books is metaphysical emporium at 609 Main Street, Covington. Featuring new and used books, New Age cassettes and CDs, incense, oils, tarot cards, jewelry, crystals, and much more. Psychic, tarot, and astrological readings by appointment. Open daily. Call for information, 581-5839.
READINGS
Norita Ruehl, spiritual advisor and professional reader, offers private or group readings. Receive the to specific questions and personal concerns. Hostess Plan is available with group of ten. All information is strictly confidential. Call 606-441-0908.
RELAXING MASSAGE Certified professional offers: Swedish/Oriental, Deep Tissue/Light Touch, Reflexology. Relieve pain, soothe stress. Outcalls available, times flexible. $20/hour. Call 921-1801.
STRESS THERAPIST/ HYPNOTHERAPIST Ron Scanlon, Certified Stress Therapist, Certified Hypnotherapist uses Relaxation, Emotional Clearing, and Muscle Tension Release to balance the body, heart, and spirit. Understand and let go of everyday aches and pains. 1-513-298-4939.
THERAPEUTIC BODYWORK Bodywork is individualized and includes Massage-Swedish. Deep tissue, and Amma; Acupressure- jinshindo; Energy Work- Reiki, Therapeutic Touch; and Integrative Bodywork. Kirk Prine, Ed.D., C.M.T., by appointment only. 431-3112.
Business Opportunities
EARN MONEY Earn money typing in your area. Excellent part-time money. Send $1 and self addressed stamped envelope to M.A. Advertising & Distribution, Dept. CB, 4511 Carroll St., Covington, KY 41015. THE PERFECT BUSINESS No inventory, deliveries, no collections, no customer risk, no employees, no quotas, no products to purchase, no complicated math or paperwork, no experience necessary. Immediate income. Call 631-8935.
THRILL SEEKERS Championship marketing team, recruiting for money motivated team players. Excellent $$$$$, fun environment, training provided. Call 721-4577.
DESKTOP PUBLISHING 20% Off B&B Publishing is offering 20% off Typesetting/Design fees on your initial order. Call or fax 481-0515.
LADIES NIGHT OUT Intimate Moments, Inc. invites you to an evening of Lotions, Lingerie, Novelties, and Adult Toys. Call Laura today to book a party for your free catalog. 18 years and older. 779-8394.
LEGAL SERVICES Tired of paying high prices for simple legal forms? We assist people in preparing the following standard legal forms for filing in Ohio courts: Dissolution of Marriage, Simple Will, Rental Disputes, Bankruptcy, Trusts, etc. Efficient service, very low fees. 531-0945. THE MILLION DOLLAR BILL A symbol of success and wealth." A special issue note”, great for incentives, premiums, or just a unique gift idea. Only $10 each which includes an attractive gift envelope. Send all requests to: Selective Marketing, Dept. 7, P.0. Box 815, Hamilton, OH 45012. VIDEO DESIGNER Do you have a project that needs that special touch? Specializing in documentation of events, arts and commercial projects. Call Bob Leibold, 481-3011. Fax, 481-1444.
Classes/Lessons
BEADS BEADS BEADS Your complete jewelry and bead shop. We offer variety of classes, including wire wrap jewelry and stained glass. Please call for details. Treasure Island Jewelry, 241-7893. COOKING CLASS We are a unique hands-on culinary classWide variety of classes from Appetizers to Vegetarian. Italian Cuisine on 5/12 & California Cuisine on 5/19. Call F00DS0URCE at 232-8586. IN-LINE SKATING LESSONS
TELEMARKETERS
protect your ears the way professionals do. Use ER-15s. Call Lewis Hearing Services, 351-3277.
SINGER Singer wanted for metal cover band.. Experience preferred. 441-8811.
SOMETHING i-OR NOTHING
Did your drummer run off with the lead vocalist? Don’t panic! CityBeat Classifieds offer free ads for musicians who are looking for blood. Reach some of the best talent in the city - just write your ad on an index card and pop it in the mail to CityBeat Classifieds, 23 E. 7th St., Suite 617, Cincinnati. OH 45202. We’ll take of the rest.
SONGWRITERS & PERFORMERS
The Association of Performing & Recording Artists hold a songwriters workshop every Monday at Southgate House, 7 p.m.
Classifieds 665-4700
USED IBM COMPUTERS UNDER $400
KEVIN BIRCHFIELD, 598-9703, LEAVE MSG. See classified ad on inside page!
ENERGY BODY CENTER MASSAGE, ACUPRESSURE, & ENERGY WORK Kirk Prine, Ed.D., C.M.T., 431-3112
FOR WOMEN WHO DARE TO BE STRONG. OLYMPUS GYM 128 E. 6th St, 651-9114
LOBSTER’S MUSIC Buys Sells Trades all musical instruments 1100 Sunset Ave., 921-5717 TRISTATEMATE
V-MAIL PERSONALS! LISTEN FREE. OR GET YOUR OWN BOX! 941-3800. SINGLES DANCES HUNDREDS ATTEND! CALL 771-6943.
AFFORDABLE MASSAGE!
HoseJawn, male therapist, $2Mir 284-3421
COME SEE DEEPWATER JUNCTION
May 6 Top Cats, May 7 Club Gotham
PSYCHIC HOTLINE LIVE
FIND OUT WHATS IN YOUR FUTURE! CALL TODAY! 1-900-2264345 EXT. 1451
$3.95/min., 18 years+, touchtone required TeleServices U.S.A., Inc. Hagerstown, MD 301-797-2323. FOR THE MONTH OF MAY
Receive a 1 our massage for $28 only on Sat. & Sun. INNER PEACE MASSAGE
3907 Harrison Ave., Cheviot Only minutes from Downtown! 661-0302.
CD STATION BUY* SELL* TRADE
Trade 2 for 1 used, or 3 for 1 new! $4 on all trades! 8146 Beechmont Avenue 474-6491
FUNNY BOOKS N’ STUFF COMIC BOOK SHOP NEW COMICS EVERY WEDNESDAY. OLD COMICS, LOTS MORE! 5063 GLENWAY, 921-5720
LIVE ROCK ‘N ROLL WITH BAD HABIT
MAY 5TH & 6TH, COURTNEY’S SPORTS CLUB 529 Loveland-Madeira Rd.
RENAISSANCE COFFEEHOUSE & BAR
Fresh coffee, wine selection, and delicious desserts 1054 St Gregory, Mt Adams 721-6977
FREE CALLS! *
8022 Bi-WM, HAIRY, ISO WM
8026 BLK M, 5’10\ 175, ISO M, 23-30
8028 WM, 35, FIT. ISO SAME 8029 GWM, 305, 5’7", ISO 21-40 MEN/WOMEN 386-2349 EXT. 6000 MEN/MEN 366-2353 EXT 8900OTHERS 368-235? EXT. 9000 OFFICE 386-2340 IN-LINE SKATES BIOWHEELS WORKSHOP 344 LUDLOW AVE./ LUDLOW GARAGE 861-BIKE
DRUMSHINE SHOP
carries Cincinnati’s largest selection of all percussion accessories. 8627 Reading Rd, 821-8866 FUTOWN CASUAL HARDWOOD FURNITURE 2834 Observatory Avenue, Hyde Park 871-4505
Welcome to Back Beat, the back page of Cincinnati CityBeat. This last page is your last chance to have the last word.
So talk back to us! Answer our sometimes silly, sometimes cerebral weekly question. Then beat it to the nearest mailbox, fax or modem. If we print your response in our letters section next week, you get a free Cincinnati CityBeat T-shirt. Not a bad deal for the cost of a stamp or fax, eh?
This week’s question: What’s the best entertainment deal in town?
Send responses by 5 p.m. Tuesday to: Back Beat, Cincinnati CityBeat 23 E. Seventh St., Suite 617,
Name:
Address:
Daytime voice telephone number:
RELAX AND UNWIND Phenomenal menu, desserts from heaven DIJOHN A NEW RESTAURANT & BAR 724 Madison Avenue, Covington 581-JOHN
EXPERIENCE THE ENERGY! Come visit Northern Kentucky’s premier metaphysical emporium. Featuring new and used books, New Age CDs, jewelry, crystals, and much more! Open daily. VICTORY BOOKS, 609 MAIN ST., COVINGTON 581-5839
IF
WORLD CAFE & RESTAURANT 3213 Linwood Ave, 321-1347
HOLISTIC COUNSELING
Mind/BodyTherapy. Attitudinal Healing. Stress Management Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor. Sophia Paparodis, M.ED. 677-6090 NEED A TELEPHONE
VOODOO DOLLS!
WHAMM1E YOUR ENEMIES! Primitive, one of a kind Voodoo Dolls. Each uniquely hand painted, adorned in brightly colored ornamental robes. Comes complete with folklore. Guarantees a whimsical gift or conversation piece. Send $8.95+ $1 shipping
