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Kasey's new album "Carnival" debuted at No. 1 in Australia. Won't be out in the U.S. until Sept. 12, but I got my first listen to the whole thing today on Rhapsody.com. Beautiful work. I'll blog more about it when I get a chance to digest it better, but suffice to say that my love only grows stronger, dear Kasey.....
Pike is on a pretty good roll for a band named after a fish.
Not only was it chosen to write the theme song for the new Cincinnati Rollergirls roller derby league (you can hear “Jawbreaker” on its MySpace.com page), but the high-energy punk pop band bested a bevy of the hottest female bands in the country at the Annual Battle Of The GoGirls, presented by GoGirlsMusic.com.
It was open to all bands with prominent female members, and Pike was selected to perform at Trophy’s in Austin as one of the six finalists for the national award.
With an Austin band dropping out of the contest, Pike was up against a country act (Emily Herring from Oregon), a hip-hop act (Shanti from Los Angeles), a blues-rock band (Red Lotus from Brooklyn) and a party rock band (3 Kisses from Texas), and when it finished up its set, it was — as the saying goes — honored just to be nominated.
“We played a strong set, but there was a vibe about Red Lotus that we thought they were going to win,” said Kelley Kombrinck, Pike’s (male) guitarist.
Pike won over $2,500 in cash and prizes that included $500, a certificate for CD manufacturing, a Daisy Rock guitar, 250 buttons, three high-profile music festival gigs and bragging rights.
“We also won a cup holder for a mic stand,” Kombrinck said. “Since the other Kelly (Jarvis, the female lead singer and rhythm guitarist) got the Daisy Rock guitar, I claimed the cup holder.”
Their band first went by the name Unhallowed, but they knew it was worse than horrible for the quirky alt-rock they were playing.
“One night I was drivingg down the highway and drive under a sign that said ‘Springfield Pike,’” Kombrinck said. “I thought, ‘Hmmm. Big scary fish with big scary teeth. What a good name for a band!’
“I called Holly up to run it by her, but she was all excited about the new kitten she’d just gotten,” he said.
The kitty’s name? Pike. After a charcter in “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”
So the name was set.
After the original Pike broke up, they joined a horrible heavy metal band, “an Evanescence wanna-be,” where they met Jarvis. The three thought they’d do better going back to quirky alt-rock, so Kombrinck contacted an old friend and bass player Wade Weber.
“We kinda got something good going,” Kombrinck said. “Everybody writes and everybody sings.”
A version of this story originally appeared in Go!, the arts and entertainment section of the JournalNews, Hamilton, Ohio.
I think I reached the end of Bomi. S/He won't return any of my e-mails even though I am very sincere about seeking his/her help to do a story. There may even be a book in this. How can I help Bomi -- or Felix or whoever, as the case may be -- understand the benefit s/he will derive from my project?
So here's the whole saga in one post in chronological order for easy reading.
I'll leave the line breaks for you. It looks more like poetry that way.
And sure enough, when I go to the post office, I pick up a plain brown envelope with four Postal Money Orders for $850 each.
Woo-hoo!!! Right? Not so fast.
They look good, but there's no image of Ben Franklin in the cameo watermark on the left, and the security strip that's supposed to be embedded in the paper is clearly inked on.
What's also odd is that "Saul Kramer" lives in Medford, Ma [sic], but the stamp and postmark are from Cotongo, Republique du Benin.
I'll take it to the PO tomorrow to see if they care (but I'll save one for a souvenir).
Now, do I continue to bait them? Hmmmm. Hell yeah!
The images Bomi sent me were straight from Art.com.
This one was labeled "dog." What do you think it is?
Looks like a fox to me.
If you know anything about art, you can plainly see that Bomi is a genius. What a diversity of style, everything from wildlife to florals to patriot propaganda to Cuban cigar boxes..... Beats me.
I did take the Money Orders from Saul Kaufman to the USPS Rossville Branch today. Postmaster Andrea Osborne was quite concerned and glad to take the forgeries off my hands for futher investigation. She had to go through the tips to spot a forged document and explain to me why these are all scams, even though I think I made it pretty clear that this is a silly hobby of mine and I knew they would be forgeries before I got them. I also forwarded her the email with the addresses. We'll see if anything comes of it. I doubt it.
Now, I'm just trying to see how long I can stretch this out.
Bomi starts getting a little impatient with me.
Finally, it hits the fan:
Should I play dumb?
Checking my e-mail, I see a message from info@richardojones.com, the mailbox where comments from my blog are sent to me.
No interview.
No story.
No particular reason except
I like the boots.
Bomi finally caught on (check out the comment):
Should I play dumb?
After I discovered the comment Bomi left, I sent this message:
Now, I'm just trying to see how long I can stretch this out.
Bomi starts getting a little impatient with me.
If you know anything about art, you can plainly see that Bomi is a genius.
I keep the line breaks as I get them because it makes it look more like poetry.
The images Bomi sent me were straight from Art.com.
This one was labeled "dog." What do you think it is?
Looks like a fox to me.
If you know anything about art, you can plainly see that Bomi is a genius. What a diversity of style, everything from wildlife to florals to patriot propaganda to Cuban cigar boxes..... Beats me.
I did take the Money Orders from Saul Kaufman to the USPS Rossville Branch today. Postmaster Andrea Osborne was quite concerned and glad to take the forgeries off my hands for futher investigation. She had to go through the tips to spot a forged document and explain to me why these are all scams, even though I think I made it pretty clear that this is a silly hobby of mine and I knew they would be forgeries before I got them. I also forwarded her the email with the addresses. We'll see if anything comes of it. I doubt it.
Original letter. Basically from an "artist" in the United Kingdom, asking me to be a go-between with American buyers. I say, sure, send me the money.
Got this e-mail this morning. I'll leave the line breaks for you:
My response:
And sure enough, when I go to the post office, I pick up a plain brown envelope with four Postal Money Orders for $850 each.
Woo-hoo!!! Right? Not so fast.
They look good, but there's no image of Ben Franklin in the cameo watermark on the left, and the security strip that's supposed to be embedded in the paper is clearly inked on.
What's also odd is that "Saul Kramer" lives in Medford, Ma [sic], but the stamp and postmark are from Cotongo, Republique du Benin.
I'll take it to the PO tomorrow to see if they care (but I'll save one for a souvenir).
Now, do I continue to bait them? Hmmmm. Hell yeah!
To kick off the school year, Miami Univerity Theatre continues its tradition of free theater in the park with the classic "Romeo & Juliet."
This edited version is based on Miami theater professor Howard Blanning's new research and insights into the script, said director Luis F. Midence.
"Blanning is our resident Shakespeare expert," Midence said. "He recently came up with some new theories about the characters of Paris and Benvolio that gives us a little bit more insight into 'Romeo & Juliet.'"
It's one of those Shakespeare plays in which nearly every major character ends up dead, including the two characters in question.
"Paris is usually cast as someone older than Romeo, but if you take the script literally, he's probably only 15, younger than Romeo but older than Juliet," Midence said. "He becomes the ultimate representation of platonic love and now by the time Romeo kills Paris, you get a whole new idea about him."
On the other hand, Benvolio - whose name suggests "benevolence" - is often seen as one "trying to preserve the peace." But, Midence said, there is evidence in the text that this vision of him is purposefully inaccurate.
"Mercutio refers to him as being 'hot tempered' and lies when he's confronted to protect himself, not Romeo."
This 90-minute version will be presented without intermission.
Preview:
"Annoyance" by Sam BobrickRevolution Theatre Company
So are the self-proclaimed "karaoke freaks" who got together between songs to form Revolution Theatre, Greater Cincinnati's newest troupe, making its debut tonight with "Annoyance," a dark Sam Bobrick comedy.
"We simply wanted to do the shows that other groups aren't willing to do," said director Barbara Brookover. "We have the passion to do this. It's not about the money; it's about the art. It's about making the most out of this beautiful gift, the theater."A lot of us have hit the wall with groups doing the same six shows over and over."
For now, Revolution Theatre is just thinking one show at a time and "Annoyance" is the only thing on the schedule, but they see this as more than a trial run.
"We decided to keep this within ourselves," said Jennifer Drake, who plays the psychiatrist Dr. Anita Wells. "It's a small show with a small set. We just wanted to be sure we could pull it off and afford it."
"Annoyance" concerns a man named Ethan Steckler (played by Mark Walfogle), who is such an annoying creature that two highly credentialed psychiatrists (also Chris Spangler as Dr. Sidney Gate) struggle to unravel his grating personality.
"You're not sure if he's putting on or if he's really like that," Walfogle said. "He basically changes character from line to line."
The Revolution crew cites the success of the Cincinnati Fringe Festival as proof that area audiences are ready for edgier theater.
"We think there will be a huge audience of the kind of work we want to do," Brookover said, "because we are that audience. We're not trying to pull in families.
"But we all love the theater and even though we're all stage hogs, each one of us has another interest so we can pull together to make this happen."
A version of this story originally appeared in Go!, the arts and entertainment section of the JournalNews, Hamilton, Ohio.
Veteran Cincinnati actor Greg Procaccino (he's been featured as Jacob Marley in the Playhouse in the Park's version of "Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol for the past decade or so) repleaces Elizabeth A. Harris as NET's artistic director.
Harris has moved to Pittsburgh to pursue her Ph.D. at Carnegie Mellon.
Nathan Gabriel, comes on board in the new position of associate producer. Locally, Gabriel has performed and directed at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, the Performance Gallery and the Cincinnati Fringe Festival, where he most recently helped to direct "godsplay."
While working on a major staff transition, NET will produce three shows in 2006-07, said executive director Michael Schooner, as well as an all-new Director’s Competition.
The schedule:
• "An Evening in Durang(o)" by Christopher Durang, Nov 2–18, a collection of three Durang one-acts, "The Actor’s Nightmare," "'Dentity Crisis" and "For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls."
• "Master Harold and the Boys" by Athol Fugard, Feb 1–17. Perhaps Fugard’s best known play, this largely auto-biographical piece addresses the genesis of bigotry and hatred – and how it insidiously poisons entire cultures.
• Cincinnati Director’s Competition, March 1-11. NET’s first annual festival celebrating the one-act form and showcasing directors and actors from near and far who will compete for the top prize money.
• "Fool For Love" by Sam Shepard, May 10–26. One of America's most heralded and prolific playwrights, creates Eddie and May, the quintessence of dysfunctional, emotionally co-dependent love/hate.
This will also New Edgecliff's third full season at the Columbia Performance Center in Columbia-Tusculum, 3900 Eastern Ave.
Ticket prices areu2028$18 adults,u2028$14 student/seniors.u2028u2028Order by phone at 888-588-0137 or online at newedgecliff.com.
A version of this story ran in the Go! entertainment supplement to the JournalNews, Hamilton, Ohio, on Aug. 18, 2006.
It's been a whirlwind two years for Anna Nalick. Her debut album, "Wreck of the Day," spawned a number of hits ("Breathe (2 a.m.)" being the biggest) and opening dates for the Wallflowers, Howie Day, Chris Isaacs the Dixie Chicks. Before she takes a break in anticipation of November recording sessions, Nalick headlines her own tour of smaller venues, including a stop at Bogart's on Saturday.
"It's fun opening for other people, to see different audiences," she said in a phone interview from a bus somewhere in the upper Midwest. "But in headlining shows, I probably have a different confidence because I know that I'm not having to win people over as much." Her touring schedule ends the first week of September, allowing Nalick two months R&R before hitting the studio.
"I'll probably just do some grocery shopping, maybe take a little vacation," she said. "Nothing big because everything I've been doing for the past two years has been big. The important thing for me now is to just relax and do what I want to do for a while."
One thing she won't be worried about, however, is coming up with songs for the next record to follow up the hugely popular "Wreck of the Day."
"I write all the time, so I have a lot to choose from and I keep a running list of my favorite 11 songs," she said. "If I write something I like better than one of those, I just take one off.
"If I really wanted to put them all together, I'd probably have enough for three albums," she said, "although they may not be very good."
Her press bio:
ANNA NALICK
Wreck of the Day
Anna Nalick is beginning to live her dreams. One of the most compelling emerging artist success stories of the year, Anna Nalick struck gold with her debut album, Wreck of the Day, a refreshing blend of sophisticated wordplay, haunting melodies, subtle textures and atmosphere. With all music and lyrics written by Anna, Wreck of the Day has signaled the arrival of an unmistakable new voice in pop music, full of youthful exuberance and provocative reflection.
Anna takes a heartfelt, introspective and spiritual approach when writing her words and music. She notes that "inspiration comes from a variety of sources," adding that her songs are "not necessarily about my personal experiences, but sometimes just observations of situations or relationships of different people I've known. They get funneled through my own inner psyche. Whatever the source of the interpretation, the feelings I get are personal. I find a need to write these feelings down in words and the melody follows." Although Anna's songs are intimate, they are poignantly universal at the same time.
The strikingly melodic "Breathe (2 AM)," the album's first single, examines life's uncertainties and offers comfort as Anna describes "three different situations that were intertwined during a particular period of time." She looks for salvation in "Satellite," her lonesome voice cutting deep in such lines as: "And so I send my feeble flare/Through the silent, arctic air/Heading anywhere/Until at last I've finally found/A place to lay my anchor down."
Elsewhere, hard questions and fears are faced in the contemplative "Citadel," which Anna singles out as a song which "..describes me the most. It was written at a time when I just wasn't feeling like I fit in. I was feeling tentative and afraid to just jump in with both feet. There's a line in the song--'What if I fall? What if I don't? What if I never make it home?' It's saying that it's one thing to be afraid, but you'll never know if you'll make it or not unless you try. There's still this little girl inside me, who may be just a little scared, but at the same time, really wants to dive in and experience all those big exciting possibilities around her."
Citing a wide range of influences running from Fiona Apple and Tori Amos, with whom she shares a complex feminine poignancy, to Blind Melon and John Mayer, whose adroit poetic paradoxes reverberate in her songs, to Stevie Ray Vaughan, whom she calls, simply, "The guy that I'm going to marry when I get to heaven," Anna generates a sound and sensibility distinctly her own.
"Ever since I was a little girl I just knew I wanted to be a performer," she recalls. "My earliest inspiration came from my grandparents, they both performed on Broadway, mainly in the chorus. My grandmother even danced with Fred Astaire. She was in the stage versions of the Marx Brothers' 'Coconuts' and 'Animal Crackers.' I learned many of the songs from those old shows from my grandmother who taught them to me when I was a kid." Anna's grandmother passed on when Anna was in the 8th grade, but her tales of classic old school "show business" instilled in Anna the passionate desire to become a performer herself.
When Anna was 14, her father turned her on to the sounds of Elvis and the Everly Brothers, while her mother spun disks for Anna by artists like the Rolling Stones, Cream, and Led Zeppelin. Anna marks the approximate beginnings of her songwriting career with memories of 5th grade math class: "I was sitting there, not paying attention, as usual, and rewriting lyrics to a Cranberries' song. I'd also listen to Green Day and pick out bass notes on guitar. I figured out that I could put that all together and write my own melodies."
By the time Anna reached high school, her musical aspirations were in full swing. In addition to writing her own songs, she was developing as a live performer, singing on-stage with a Rush cover band. "I was also in a band with my best guy friend and we played hard rock songs," she recalls, "and I had to be really angry and do a lot of screaming." But the Rush and metal covers were a far cry from Anna's true musical calling: the writing and performing of her own original and personal songs.
Anna's original plan was to go to college and then follow her dream of a career in music. As she began college, she continued writing and documented her songs on a Rainbow Brite cassette tape recorder.
She soon met a photographer (who taught a class at a local high school) who mentioned to Anna that one of her students had parents in the music business. Anna passed along a six song lo-fi home demo and the next thing she knew, that student's mother, a manager of producers and other talent, introduced Anna to Christopher Thorn and Brad Smith, the founding members of Blind Melon now turned production team, and Eric Rosse, best known for his production work with Tori Amos.
Suddenly, Anna Nalick was working on a master demo with some of the very artists who'd helped inspire her in the beginning. "That was my first experience in a professional studio," she says. "It was amazing. I couldn't believe it was really happening. I loved having my music fully realized! We immediately began to play the demo to a select number of record companies and within about two weeks, I had label interest." Anna Nalick signed with Columbia Records in October 2003.
Putting her college plans on hold, Anna went into the studio with Thorn, Smith and Rosse as producers, together with mix-engineer Mark Endert (Fiona Apple, Maroon 5, Gavin DeGraw) and an all-star group of musicians that included Smith on bass, Thorn on guitar, Rosse and Zak Rae (Alanis Morissette, Macy Gray, Sinead O Connor) on keyboards, Lyle Workman (Frank Black, Sheryl Crow, They Might Be Giants) and Stuart Mathis (Jewel) on guitar, Joey Waronker (Beck, Johnny Cash, Elliott Smith, Nelly Furtado) and Matt Chamberlain (Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, David Bowie, John Mayer) on drums.
The result was Wreck of the Day, a collection of 11 songs matching Anna's deeply resonant vocals with finely etched keyboard and guitar-based settings as she touches on a lot of big things, in a personal and engaging way, inviting the world to join her.
Released in April 2005, Wreck of the Day entered the Billboard 200 bestselling albums chart at #20 and was certified RIAA Gold in September. Her break-out crossover single, "Breathe (2AM)," one of the year's most unforgettable tracks, reached #4 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, #6 on Adult Top 40, and reached #1 on Top 40 Adult Recurrents. A hit online as well as on-air, "Breathe (2AM)" has achieved RIAA Gold and Platinum Digital Single status.
While "Wreck of the Day," the title track from Anna's debut album, has been licensed by the hit television programs "Joan of Arcadia" and "One Tree Hill," her breakout song, "Breathe (2AM)," was featured prominently on the hit television series, "Joan of Arcadia," and can be heard in promos for "Close To Home," the new legal drama series airing on CBS.
Meanwhile, Anna's fanbase grew to include a couple of superstar artists from the worlds of classic rock and hip-hop.
When, in a recent interview, Rolling Stone asked party rock icon Tommy Lee who he was currently listening to, the star of NBC's "Tommy Lee Goes To College" responded, "Anna Nalick, her lyrics are brilliant."
Earlier this year, urban artist Fat Joe raved, "It's a real hot song. This feels great," as he reviewed "Breathe (2AM)" for Entertainment Weekly's "Summer Music Preview," which noted that the rapper turned the "volume way up for several minutes" before rhapsodizing, "This takes you to a different place, man!"
Anna's also been gathering solid press kudos from the underground to the mainstream. People magazine gave her album a three-star review, calling her "..a breath of fresh air÷" while praising "her smart lyrics, engaging melodies and resonant voice."
The Associated Press heralded her "refreshing and likable voice" while observing that "her melodies and lyrics give evidence of maturity and sophistication beyond her tender age."
In the songs of Anna Nalick, USA Today found "..a sense of grace and composure rare among today's tortured young troubadours."
Nalick was picked for Rolling Stone's "The Next List" of people to watch in 2005, is a VH1 "You Oughta Know" artist, and was recently singled out as a "Breakout Music Star" by US Weekly in its "Breakout Stars! Who Will Be Hot In 2006?" feature.
She embarked on her first ever North American concert tour in 2005, appearing as the opening act for the Wallflowers, Howie Day, and Rob Thomas as well as headlining her own shows.
"Salt has defined the last two years of my life," said Beth Cameron, singer/songwriter/front for the indie rock band Forget Cassettes, "literally and figuratively."
Literally, perhaps, because "Salt" is the name of the new Forget Cassettes CD - to be celebrated Saturday at the Southgate House - and figuratively because she was using it as a metaphor for so many things in the writing of it.
"Everything can be related in salt to some way," she said. "I really wanted to complement each other lyrically and musically. "At one point during the recording I sat down and made a list of how each song relates to salt."
Some of her thoughts about salt:
• The two elements that comprise salt, sodium and chlorine are considered two of the most volatile in the periodic table. When they combine to form salt, instead of creating another unpredictable ion, they become one of the most versatile, stable compounds.
• Salt is used as a flavoring in food, as well as a preservative.
• Salt is an integral part of the ocean, but as many will tell you, saltwater depletes the human body of essentials even as it is beneficial to the earth herself.
• This great mass of ocean that engulfs the earth can often also be a source of great trauma, certainly as witnessed in New Orleans in September, 2005 - the subject of "The Catch."
"'The Catch' is about cities/towns and how we form relationships with them," Cameron said, "and when a city doesn't come through like we feel it should have, we crucify it."
Originally from a small town 45 minutes south of Nashville, Cameron first picked up a bass guitar at about age 14, inspired by the Riot grrrl movement, and immediately began writing songs.
"My first song was about my books when I was a little girl," she said. "'Noisy Nora.' I still remember how to play it."
Within six months, she had joined a band and performed at a high school talent show.
"It was horrifying," she recalled. "I remember when I was doing it that it was the weirdest experience - but not like I shouldn't have been doing it. It wasn't horrifying to the point that I'd never do it again."
Her early bands never seemed to get serious enough to suit her.
"I wanted to experiment more with structure and with songwriting," she said. "I started playing gigs myself just because I felt like I needed to do it."
For her first Forget Cassettes effort, she joined forces with a drummer from a previous band and released "Instruments of Action" as a guitar/drums duo.
A whole new line-up for "Salt" also adds a bass player to the mix, "Two of the best musicians I've ever seen," she said.
"The first record was definitely about the dynamics and how we can exaggerate those," she said. "It was very raw and done completely live with no overdubs.
"On this record, it was more about making it full and lush and making the songs more cyclical. It's definitely more mature and what I wanted to convey."
Natural Moderns: Georgia O'Keeffe and Her Contemporaries
Cincinnati Art Museum
It seems odd, don't you think, that the Cincinnati Art Museum's permanent collection lacks even a single work by Georgia O'Keeffe, arguably one of the most recognizable names in 20th Century American art?
By this stage of the game, however, an O'Keeffe acquisition isn't about to happen anytime soon, according to Julie Aronson, curator of American painting and sculpture. The cost of an O'Keeffe is simply prohibited.
Her work, however, is at the center of Natural Moderns: Georgia O’Keeffe and Her Contemporaries, a small but powerful exhibition hanging through Jan. 14.
The show grew out of a trade (of sorts) when the CAM disassembled its spectacular Joan Miro mural to loan to the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. While the museum doesn't normally engage in such bartering, Aronson said, the loan was so extraordinary that it seemed OK to ask for something in exchange.
Since the Phillips Collection's strong suit is Modernist American paintings - Duncan Phillips was an avid collector of O'Keeffe and others in the "Stieglitz Circle" that make up this exhibition - Aronson found this an opportunity to bolster (at least temporarily) the museum's deficiency.
The 11 paintings in the exhibition demonstrate how nature inspired American painters Arthur Dove, Marsden Hartley, John Marin and O’Keeffe. Key works on display include O’Keeffe’s "Red Hills, Lake George" and Dove’s "Sand Barge."
The four artists were members of the famed Stieglitz Circle, named for photographer and art dealer Alfred Stieglitz, who championed avant-garde art in America, Aronson said. Between the two World Wars, the Stieglitz Circle worked to define a distinctly American form of modernism.
Phillips, who had already exhibited the first Picassos and Matisses seen in American, soon began collecting their work. He even paid Dove a stipend for a while in exchange for first refusal rights to all of his paintings.
"They were all very passionate about nature, and that comes through in their work," Aronson said, "but their approaches were quite different.
“The artists utilized varying degrees of representation in these works, with Dove creating the most imaginative and abstract imagery of the four.”
“Visitors will see the adventurous and experimental nature of these artists through every painting in the exhibition,” she said.
The exhibition panels offer poetry and other writings by the artists that help explain their attachment to nature and how they attempted to depict the natural world through their eyes.
A version of this story originally appeared in Go!, the arts and entertainment section of the JournalNews, Hamilton, Ohio.
Painting information:
O'Keeffe, Georgia
Red Hills, Lake George
1927
Oil on canvas
27 x 32 in.; 68.58 x 81.28 cm.
Acquired 1945
The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.
Make your own sign at http://www.ronaldmchummer.com/index.php
The CSC Young Company, comprised of 6 actors from across the country, will debut the touring productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Hamlet in two free outdoor performances this August.
Artistic Director Brian Isaac Phillips is pleased to offer the community these free Shakespearean performances.
“It’s a great opportunity to introduce people to the Bard in a relaxed, outdoor setting, providing everyone with the opportunity to truly enjoy the Bard’s poetry in an atmosphere similar to that which Shakespeare was originally performed – a perfect way to spend a summer evening.”
On Sunday August 20, 2006 at 7PM take a merry romp through enchanted woods where the worlds of star-crossed lovers, faeries and buffoons collide in Shakespeare’s romantic comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The performance will take place at the Seasongood Pavilion in Eden Park. Spend a delightful summer evening enjoying the passion, magic, and romance in Shakespeare’s most popular comedy.
The following Sunday, August 27, 2006 at 7PM see a tale of murder, deception, and revenge come to life in Shakespeare’s most famous tragedy, Hamlet.
This performance will take place at Presidents’ Park in Edgewood, KY.
Don’t miss the opportunity to see what may be the most famous play ever written in the English language performed outdoors!
For more information on the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company visit www.cincyshakes.com.
The Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s touring productions are part of Shakespeare for a New Generation, a national theater initiative sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts in cooperation with Arts Midwest.
The road from a jazz bass player to acoustic singer/songwriter was a long and twisting road for Kelly Joe Phelps, but it still feels like home.
Phelps started out on guitar as a teenager, but found out that there was more work available for a bass player in the jazz scene in his hometown of Portland, Oregon.
"I just wanted to play music. It didn't matter what instrument," he said. He found his way into the local jazz community, regularly working the be-bop clubs and hanging out with other musicians, but when he was home, playing for his own joy, he still picked up the guitar.
"The last few jazz years, I ended up moving back toward guitar," he said. "I felt like I needed to make a commitment one way or the other and decided that guitar made the most sense for me."
So Phelps started seeking out gigs as a jazz guitarist. Then he took another turn.
"I have always listened to all kinds of music," he said. "About the same time I was moving back toward the guitar, I started listening to a lot of early country blues stuff - Robert Pete Williams and Mississippi Fred McDowell. I really dug it, especially the acoustic stuff. I started listening to them as improvisers more than anything else. Pretty soon, I was figuring out their tunes and all of a sudden, I started singing and playing acoustic guitar, then because of that, I felt like I wanted to start writing songs.
"Every step of the way, it wasn't like I was shifting around, but just adding on to what I do," Phelps said. "I was still improvising a lot, keeping the song forms loose and took a jazzy approach to writing lyrics."
By 1994, then in his mid-30s, Phelps released his first album, "Lead Me On," a mixture of classic acoustic blues and original compositions. By 2001, his fourth album, "Sky Like a Broken Clock," was filled with all original tunes. His eighth set, "Tunesmith Retrofit," came out earlier this week on Rounder Records and features his first recordings playing banjo as well as guitar.
The Portland jazz musicians "were surprisingly very encouraging," he said. "I expected the opposite reaction. Six months into it, they started coming out to my gigs, which is a testament to them as musicians.
"Portland's really a great musician's town, but now I only play there once or twice a year. I'm traveling instead, which is a lifelong dream being fulfilled on a steady basis.
"I was always headed in that direction."
A version of this story originally appeared in the JournalNews Go! Arts and Entertainement supplement, Aug. 11, 2006,
T.M. "Tim" Spoonster has been taking photos all of his life.
It wasn't until he retired from his career as an educator, including a 10-year stint in Japan teaching the children of U.S. Navy personnel, and enrolled in the architecture program at Miami University that he began to realize his work might be better than average.
T.M. "Tim" Spoonster has been taking photos all of his life.
It wasn't until he retired from his career as an educator, including a 10-year stint in Japan teaching the children of U.S. Navy personnel, and enrolled in the architecture program at Miami University that he began to realize his work might be better than average.
"I used a lot of photos in my presentations and people were extremely complementary," he said. "So I went back over the photos that I'd taken over my life. They spoke about all of the places I've been to and the things that I've done.
"I think they portray something off the beaten path."
So he titled an exhibition of his work at the Cozy Cafe on High Street in Hamilton "Images From a Life's Journey."
"You don't see the typical tourist thing," he said. "You don't see people standing around with Mt. Fuji coming up out of their heads.
"Instead, you'll see the leaves on a tree from the Imperial Palace in Kyoto. That's what I noticed to be most beautiful. I always carried my camera with me to take pictures of where the light has brought something to life."
That's why for his business cards and professional logo he's chosen the Japanese characters for "capturing light."
Every picture, he said, also has some kind of story behind it. Behind what appears to be a breathtaking sunset at the Grand Canyon, for instance, is an encounter with a group of Japanese tourists.
"They were all gathered around waiting for the beautiful colors," he said. "I was there with my camera and a little watercolor set so that I could paint and take pictures at the same time."
He overheard them talking in Japanese, remarking on his camera and his paints. "He must be very good," they said.
"I'm not that good," he replied in Japanese to their great surprise, and he chatted with them for a while before a woman with a white glove signaled for them to get back on the bus.
"The photos are the saga of my life," he said.
Now a resident of Hamilton's Dayton Lane Historic District, Spoonster has traveled to 33 countries. Among his adventures, he accompanied a film crew from the History Channel's "Deep Sea Detectives" series when they set out to explore the sunken ship that his father was on during the invasion of Normandy, D-Day, in World War II.
Before he died in 2001, Spoonster's father often said that he'd like to have his ashes scattered in Normandy, so he saw this as an opportunity to make his father's wish come true.
"Since that time, I often think about a song by Judy Collins with the line 'My father promised me that someday we'd live in France.'
"My father wasn't the kind of person who promised me anything, but I got to take a trip of a lifetime to honor him, so these photos are his gift to me."
Review:
"The Last Sunday in June"
Know Theatre of Cincinnati
"The Last Sunday in June," now in its regional premiere at the Know Theatre of Cincinnati, creates an interesting twist on the concept of a play-within-a-play.
This time, the play within is also the play itself.
"The Last Sunday in June," now in its regional premiere at the Know Theatre of Cincinnati, creates an interesting twist on the concept of a play-within-a-play.
This time, the play within is also the play itself.
It begins when Charles (played by Hamilton's own Chris Kramer) enters the apartment of Tom and Michael and sees Joe (Fairfield native Ryan Imhoff) sitting on the window sill watching the Gay Pride Parade on the street below.
"You look like you could be in a play," Charles says, and the rest of the show includes a running commentary on what a "gay play" is -- and with one notable exception, "The Last Sunday in June" fits the bill.
That one notable exception may either prove the rule or ultimately knock this script out of contention. We can't mention it here without giving away the ending, so it'll be up to those who venture down to the Know Theatre of Cincinnati to decide.
It's definitely worth the trip. Know Theatre is just beginning to stretch its wings in its new space at 1120 Jackson Street, but already the difference is palpable. For "The Last Sunday in June," set designer Samantha Reno recreates most of the New York apartment on Columbus Avenue in New York City, and director Nick Rose makes excellent use of the space. The audience sits on all four sides, making for a very natural flow of action.
The gist of it is this: Tom, a lawyer, and Michael, a teacher, have been together for six years and are making the plunge into property ownership. On Tuesday, they've got an appointment for the inspection for their new home in the suburbs. As the play opens, Michael is anxious to go to Pottery Barn to shop for lamps while Tom wants to stay home and invite friends over for their last Gay Pride Parade.
In spite of their differing agendas for the day, Tom and Michael seem to be a happy and established couple. But once Pottery Barn is back-burnered and guests start arriving, the cracks in the facade begin to show.
One of the guests is Tom's ex, James, who comes to the party to announce that he's getting married. The big surprise is that it's to a woman. The other guests feel betrayed by his rejection of their lifestyle and believe that covering up his true nature for the safety of an asexual marriage would be a grave mistake. So when James leaves, Tom calls the fiance, Susan, for "an intervention."
But if "The Last Sunday in June" is a "gay play," it also reverberates with some universal truths, exploring the lengths people will go through to have a relationship, even if love isn't a factor, or to have love, even if a relationship isn't a factor.
The genders may be different, but the games and the feelings are the same. Heartbreak is not reserved for straight couples. Loneliness is a land where there's room for everyone.
"The Book of Liz" is even stranger than "Strangers With Candy."
But if you loved the HBO series with Amy Sedaris, then you'll likely roll in the aisles laughing at this comedy (what else?) she wrote with her brother, the best-selling humorist and NPR commentator David Sedaris.
"The Book of Liz" is even stranger than "Strangers With Candy."
But if you loved the HBO series with Amy Sedaris, then you'll likely roll in the aisles laughing at this comedy (what else?) she wrote with her brother, the best-selling humorist and NPR commentator David Sedaris.
Making its regional premiere in a New Stage Collective production at Gabriel's Corner, "The Book of Liz" is kind of like the Wizard of Oz, but without the tornado, the witches, the scarecrow, the Tin Man...
Well, maybe it's not that much like "Wizard of Oz" except that, like Dorothy, Sister Elizabeth Donderstock runs away from her old-fashioned home to find a bigger and brighter world, only to encounter strange and wonderful characters - such as a giant peanut and a restaurant staffed almost entirely by 12-step devotees - who eventually show her that "There's no place like home."
Jennifer Owen gamely channels Amy Sedaris' posture and expressions as Elizabeth, who was born into the Squeamish community (which are a lot like the Amish, only the name is funnier) of Clusterhaven. In spite of her sweating disorder, Elizabeth has long been the chief cook and creator of the famous Squeamish cheese balls, original and smoky, but has lately been feeling the urge to change. Reverend Tollhouse blames it on the outside driver, Ms. Yolanda Foxley, who comes to Clusterhaven once a week to pick up the Squeamish balls. So he bans Ms. Foxley from Clusterhaven and at the same time replaces Elizabeth with the upstart young man from a nearby Squeamish community of Dovetail.
Feeling herself shunned by the community and curious to see how the rest of the world lives, Elizabeth packs up her bandana, ties it to a stick and hits the road.
Supporting Owen are Dan Davidson, Adam Standley and Lindsey Valitchka in a variety of roles, including the aforementioned giant peanut as well as other members of the wacky Squeamish community and a Ukrainian couple who speak in Cockney accents.
Played out on a mostly bare stage and cleverly using the peculiar architecture of Gabriel's Corner, "The Book of Liz" is a fast-paced (80 minutes, no intermission) and highly entertaining journey.
With the paint barely dry on the group's new digs at 1120 Jackson Street in Over the Rhine, Know Theatre Tribe has enacted another change in announcing its ninth season: A new name.
They've dropped the Tribe and replaced it with the name of the city.
"To highlight our commitment to this community, we have changed our name from Know Theatre Tribe to Know Theatre of Cincinnati," said founder and executive director Jay B. Kalagayan.
“Our new name more accurately describes our resident company: we strive to be a cutting-edge theatrical force and a major part of the creative ecology of our region, and our commitment to this city is strong,” he said.
On tap for Know Theatre's 2006-07 season:
• "See What I Wanna See" by Michael John LaChiusa, creator of "The Wild Party." Two lovers plot to kill each other, a police interrogation and a priest’s faith is shaken in this revolutionary new jazz and pop rock musical. Oct. 12-Nov. 4.
• "Christmas Yet to Come," based on "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens, adapted by Jason Bruffy, Know Theatre's artistic director. In collaboration with Exhale Dance Tribe, a new take on the darkest Christmas story ever told features live rock music, intense narration, and off the wall dance. Nov. 30-Dec. 23.
• "Gompers" by Adam Rapp. In this vicious comedy, the people of the destitute town of Gompers search for answers from of a mysterious golden box and a mythical blue Jesus. Jan. 11-Feb. 3.
• "Hamlet," by William Shakespeare, adapted by Jason Bruffy. In an epic flashback, Hamlet’s tale of sex, lies, ghosts, and murder will be brought to the stage through a mix of live action, music, and original video. Feb. 22-March 17.
• "Vatican Falls," by Frank J Avella. A commissioned world premier about a singer and an Italian woman torn apart by an unthinkable plot to destroy the Vatican. April 19-May 12.
• Cincinnati Fringe Festival. More information will be announced at a later date. May 30–June 10.
Single ickets for 2006-07 shows are $20 general admission, $15 students and seniors, $10 student rush (five minutes before curtain).u2028Packages include the Ultimate Access Pass (unlimited single admissions) $125, Know Access (six flexi-passes) $85, Student Know Access $69, Know Four-Play (two tickets to four plays) $125.
Call (513) 300-5669 or visit www.knowtheatre.com for more information.
Engaging though Jessica Rothart may be in “Why Is John Lennon Wearing a Skirt?,” we left the theater feeling a little cheated by the abrupt ending of Claire Dowie’s “stand-up play.”
The narrator is a young woman looking back on her adolescence, especially her fascination with the Beatles (John Lennon in particular — his photos and posters dominate the bedroom set) and her aversion to skirts and other things feminine.
At the edge of puberty, she ran with three other girls and forced classmates to refer to them as “the Fab Four.” Secretly, she called the others Paul, George and Ringo. As her Fab Four start getting more interested in hosiery, heels and make-up, she resists and spends more time with the boys playing soccer.
Dowie’s script makes much of the narrator’s asexual appearance, often being mistaken for a boy herself. Rothert conveys the essence of this gender confusion, helped greatly by a Beatles’ haircut.
After school, the narrator avoids taking any jobs that require wearing a skirt. In spite of her boyish appearance, however, she still is forced to resist the sexual advances of her employers and ends up working in a canning factory, where she encourages the attentions of a young lady.
But her interest in girls — and her disinterest in things girlie — seems to be nothing more than a red herring. Just when we begin to think that this monologue is a sort of “coming out” story, the narrator meets a young man and begins spending time with him in a relationship that eventually turns sexual.
Perhaps it’s this lack of focus that ultimately leads to what seems to be a premature ending. The story builds in several different directions, then stops suddenly. No resolution; no falling action; no epilogue. Until Rothert came out to take a curtain call, we were wondering if there was a second intermission.
Which is a disappointment. Although Rothert seems a little disoriented in the early moments of the show, she soon finds her footing. Although the play is written in the cadences of a British dialect, Rothert wisely avoids using an accent, but still spins a convincing and funny story about life as a girl who’d rather not be one.
how to go
THE NAME: “Why is John Lennon Wearing a Skirt?” by Claire Dowie.
THE LOCATION: Queen City Off-Broadway at the Cincinnati Artist Warehouse, 4011 Hamilton Ave., Northside, Cincinnati.
THE HOURS: 8 p.m. today and Saturday.
THE TAB: $15 adults; $12 students/seniors.
THE PHONE: (513) 227-0480.
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we," George Bush told an audience of military brass and Pentagon chiefs. "They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."
Original: http://www.guardian.co.uk/silly/story/0,,1277768,00.html
Bush's campaign trail gaffe
Agencies in Washington
Friday August 6, 2004
Guardian
In the lexicon of Bushisms it may one day make it to the top of the pile.
The American president added to his reputation as a gaffe-prone public speaker yesterday by declaring that the White House was doing everything it could to harm the United States.
Although many an opponent may agree with the sentiment, the statement was made in all seriousness at the signing ceremony for a $417bn defence spending bill.
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we," George Bush told an audience of military brass and Pentagon chiefs. "They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."
The Associated Press reported that there appeared to be no reaction from the audience.
The latest gaffe will add to anti-Bush paraphernalia hunters' collections of errors, mistakes and back-firing jokes. These included the declaration that "more and more of our imports come from overseas", and the observation that "it's clearly a budget; it's got a lot of numbers in it".
The latest muddle followed another Bush absurdity on Wednesday, when he was pictured trying to eat an ear of raw sweetcorn given to him by a farmer in Iowa.
But Mr Bush's idiosyncrasies are not necessarily an electoral burden. Some believe his folksy delivery and verbal solecisms play well with ordinary Americans wary of slick rhetoric and gilded vocabulary.
The White House spokesman, Scott McClellan, said his master's latest slip "just shows even the most straightforward and plain-spoken people misspeak."
It's got to be fun, or they ain't doing it.
They're the Yayhoos.
It's got to be fun, or they ain't doing it.
They're the Yayhoos.
Specifically, they are Eric Ambel (founding member of the Del-Lords and Joan Jett's Blackhearts, lead guitarist of Steve Earle's Dukes), Terry Anderson (solo recording artist and songwriter whose tunes have been recorded by Etta James and Jo Dee Messina, among others), Dan Baird (formerly of the Georgia Satellites) and Keith Christopher (founder of the Georgia Satellites and bassist to Billy Joe Shaver, Tony Joe White and Kenny Wayne Shepherd, as well as many artists with two names, including Paul Westerberg and Todd Snider).
"All of our paths have been crossing since the 1980s," Ambel said. "We all got together (around 1993) to write songs for our solo careers. Then we thought it might be a good idea if we all went out on the road together to promote our solo records at the same time. It naturally turned into its own band."
A couple of years later, another songwriting session in Anderson's father's barn resulted in a collection of tunes that started making the rounds in music circles.
They called themselves the Yayhoos, which Ambel believes was Baird and Anderson getting the name of the popular chocolate soft drink (Yoo-Hoo) wrong.
"Bloodshot records got hold of it and started bugging us to release it," Ambel said. "We finally gave in, just because we got tired of making copies for our friends."
The result was "Fear Not the Obvious," which went over well, but the events of Sept. 11, 2001, "screwed up our tours," he said.
Undaunted, the Yayhoos trudged on and in the course of three weekend recording sessions earlier this year came up with their second set, "Put the Hammer Down," a collection of rollicking bar band tunes, mostly originals but also a couple of interesting covers, such as the O'Jays' '70s soul classic "Love Train."
The hardest part of being a Yayhoo, Ambel said, is simply coordinating everyone's contractual obligations in order to present a tour.
"Something like this is so against the mainstream and conventional wisdom of the recording business," he said. "We're so outside of it all we don't even try to conform."
The best part, however, is that because they all have solo careers and other bill-paying projects, they can keep the Yayhoos a project of joy.
"The whole band doesn't carry the baggage that other bands do," Ambel said. "We have a lot of fun. If we don't have fun, we don't do it, and that goes for our live shows, too. We don't push it too hard - because we're the Yayhoos."
Or a business opportunity?
I'm betting on a scam....
To: (forwarded from a friend)
Subject: Get in Touch with me asap
From: "H & F Arts"
Date: Wed, 02 Aug 2006 05:20:00 -0400
Hello there,
My name is Bomi Savage and I am an artist. I live in the United Kingdom, with my two kids, four cats, one dog and the love of my life. It is definitely a full house. I have been doing artwork since I was a small child. That gives me about 23 years of experience. I majored in art in high school and took a few college art courses. Most of my work is done in either pencil or airbrush mixed with color pencils. I have recently added designing and creating artworks on the computer. I have been selling my arts for the last 3 years and have had my work featured on trading cards, prints and in magazines. I have sold in galleries and to private collectors from all around the world. I am always facing serious difficulties when it comes to selling my art works to Americans, they are always offering to pay with US POSTAL MONEY ORDER, which is difficult for me to cash here in the United Kingdom.
I am looking for a representative in the States who will be working for me as a partime worker and i am willing to pay 10% for every transaction, which wouldn\'t affect your present state of work, someone who would help me receive payments from my customers in the States. I mean someone that is responsible and reliable, because the cost of coming to the States to get payments is very expensive, i am working on setting up a branch in the U.S pretty soon. But for now I need a representative who will be handling the payment aspect.
These payments are in Money Order and they would come to you in your name, so all you need do is cash the Money Order, deduct your percentage and wire the rest to me. It wouldn\'t cost you any amount, you are to receive payments which will be sent to you by Fedex or USPS from my business partners, which would come in form of a Money Order then you are to cash it and send the cash to me via Western Union Money Transfer. All Western Union charges will be deducted from the money.
If you are interested, endeavor to send your reply immediately to my e-mail address: hnfart@swissbonline.com
Regards,
Bomi Savage
My reply:
Good Day Bomi:
This sounds very interesting. I'd be glad to help out. Please have them send the money orders to:
Richard O Jones
PO Box 13311
Hamilton OH 45013.
Just out of curiosity, do you have any samples of your work you can send me?
peace
Singing is now optional.
"I like to sing," said Kelly Richey. "But I love to play guitar. Guitar is where I feel the most freedom, the most expression."
So for her next record, appropriately titled "Speechless," she went into the studio with just a few riffs and her new band.
"It was a great opportunity to do something I'd always wanted to do - an instrumental record," she said. "I'd bring in riff ideas and we'd take them to the next level in the studio on the fly."
The biggest challenge, she said, came after the recording, just in trying to find the right mix. The recording itself, she said, was smooth as can be.
"I just spent the last year building a recording studio in my home," she said. "So all I have to do is be in a good mood, go into the studio and play guitar."
Her rhythm section now consists of two Indianapolis-based musicians, David Clawson on drums and Jimmy V on bass, who have known each other for many years but had never been in a band together.
"The chemistry between us is great," she said. "They're both very talented, but through the years I've found that in the big picture, talent is the least of it. Both of them understand what it's like to be a side man. They work hard to understand waht I'm looking for and know that I'm open to their ideas.
"They let me drive, and then make suggestions when I get stuck."
Consequently, once the tune and arrangements for the record were worked out, it was usually a matter of two or three takes to get it right.
She'll be trying out some of the new "Speechless" tunes on Thursday when the trio mounts the Oxford Music Festival stage, a venue she's played frequently.
"I've been playing the Oxford Music Festival since before I moved to Cincinnati" nine years ago," she said. "It's really a nice festival, especially since they re-did the parks a few years ago."
